Hokage On The Run
by Blood Brandy
Summary: My answer to Perfectlionheart's "Missing Hokage Challange" Larger Summary inside. NaruHarem, NaruHina centric. rated T for possible future violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: After the success of the Sasuke retrieval mission, the Council starts to believe that Naruto is becoming too powerful and too dangerous, and that he has to either be banished or die. But Tsunade isn't gonna stand for this.

Pairings: NaruHina centric Naruharem

My swing at PerfectLionheart's "Missing Hokage Challenge"

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**Chapter 1**

Kakashi and Pakkun stood in the rain overlooking the damage of the brutal battle, before them lay the two combatants, both hurt and unconscious. Pakkun ran to Naruto's side, since he could smell more blood from him, and found a sizeable hole in the blondes gut. The red chakra gathered around the area of the wound seemed to be trying to repair the damage, but even it was struggling to keep him alive.

"Kakashi, this is bad, you need to get Naruto back quick, Kakashi?" The dog turned to see his summoner crouched over the other fallen fighter, even though it was clear he wasn't as badly damaged, and had probably only passed out from exhaustion. But Kakashi still hoisted the Uchiha onto his back and went to leave, "Kakashi, where are you going?" but it was too late, the scarecrow-nin was gone. Pakkun put his ear to Naruto's chest, where he could still hear a faint heartbeat, _hold on kid, I'll need help to get you back,_ the pug thought as he let out a series of short howls as loud as he could, _Kakashi, you'll have a lot to answer for when the boss hears about this._

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Naruto was standing in the maze of sewers again, but it seemed darker than before, and the water level was lower. He slowly began to make his way through the maze to his eventual destination, his head hung low. Soon, the boy stood in front of the large cage door, and the great best that lay within.

**"I hope you're grateful, brat, this little stunt of yours has left your life in the balance, with only my power keeping you alive,"** the fox growled, **"and even my power may not be enough, if someone doesn't find you soon, we may still die! What in the seven hells where you thinking!? Why didn't you kill the traitorous bastard when you had the chance!? You could have easily taken him down, SO WHY!?"**

Naruto just sat down and mumbled something the Bijuu could barely hear.

The Fox was a little shocked, and took a minute to recover, **"What was that?"**

The shinobi lifted his head and looked to his tenant, tears on the edges of his soulful and sad eyes, "Because I promised Sakura-chan, and I would rather die than break my word."

**"Kit, you only promised to bring him back, you didn't say he would be alive."**

The boy shook his head, "Even if I didn't say it, it's what I meant, so, to me at least, killing Sasuke would be the same as breaking the promise."

The fox just stared at him for a few moments, before a loud laughter filled the room, **"You know, kit, for hating me so much, you really act like you are one of my kin."**

Naruto's head dropped, staring at the floor, "Great, now even a demon thinks I act like a demon."

"Don't act so down, kit, it's a complement, besides, acting all sad isn't like you," a new, softer voice said. Naruto looked up to see someone new in place of the fox, a woman who was a little taller than Tsunade, with pale, unblemished skin and long, light red hair that reached down far enough to cover her breasts and genitals well enough, but that didn't keep Naruto from staring. The woman chuckled, "you know, I think it's impolite to stare, kit."

Naruto shook his head before jumping to his feet, pointing at the woman and yelling, "WHA-WHAT THE HELL!! WHAT'S GOING ON!? WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE THE HELL ARE YOUR CLOTHES!?"

"Now that's the gaki I'm used to," the woman smiled as she snapped her fingers. In an instant, her hair was back in a braid, and she had on a blood red set of furs, the top barely containing her endowments and the skirt ending a few inches above her knees. "And as to who I am who else would be in your gutter of a mind, stuck behind bars?"

"KYU-KYUUBI?! YOU'RE A WOMAN?! SINCE WHEN?"

The redhead sighed, "Since birth, baka, my kind are natural shape shifters, but I was born a natural female," she folded her arms, "those sexist bastards in your puny village just assumed I was a guy, their egos probably wouldn't have been able to handle the idea of a woman doing that much damage."

"Well, ya know, your fox voice sound like a man." Naruto pointed out, amazed he was having the most civil conversation he had ever had with the fox.

"That's only when I try to speak your human language, to other foxes I'm an unbelievable beauty," she said, giggling when she struck a pose like a pin-up girl. After a few moments, her expression became serious, "listen, kit, we need to have a talk about a few things."

"Like what, I was kinda liking this conversation, it may be the longest you, or anyone, talked to me without threatening me."

Kyuubi shook her head, "Yeah, that's one thing. I'm sorry about what you had to go through because of me."

Naruto chuckled a bit himself, "That's a bit strange coming from someone who tried to eat me when we had our first face to face."

The fox smiled seductively and leaned forward against the bars of her prison, showing her jailer a generous amount of her cleavage, "Well, give yourself a few years and I might want to eat you up again, over and over with your inhuman stamina." She started laughing when the blonde turned a bright red, but then stared up at the ceiling for a moment, "Well, kit, it seems we're in luck, someone's carrying you back to your village."

"Someone is helping me? Who is it, did they catch Sasuke?"

Kyuubi smiled, "It's not who, but what…"

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Tsume Inuzuka dashed through the forest her son had been retrieved from only a few hours ago. She had been on patrol around the village when she heard the howls for help, and she took off with her partner, Kuromaru, and headed towards the source of the plea for help, but as she got about half way there she was passed by a group of hounds going in the opposite direction at inhuman speeds. Tsume took off to catch up, and when she got close enough she could see they were Kakashi's ninken, but the large black one had an extra passenger that the small pug was keeping an eye on.

"Hey, is that Uzumaki?" she called out when she got next to the pack, most didn't pay attention, since they were more worried about their human charge and trying to get him to a doctor, but one golden orange one, with long droopy ears that hung over his leaf headband, turned his attention to her.

"Yeah, that's the pup, and we need to get him back fast, he's hurt real bad."

"Where's Kakashi, I thought he went out to bring him back?" this was answered with a unanimous growl from the ninken.

The little white one yelled, "When I see that bastard again, I'm gonna bite his damned fingers off."

The glasses wearing dog barked, "Calm down, Shiba, we have to worry about the fox pup now, boss will probably want to deal with Hatake personally anyways."

To say Tsume and her partner were surprised would be an understatement, ninken, even outside of the Inuzuka clan, were notoriously loyal, Kakashi would have had to do something serious to have these dogs baying for his blood. "What happened," Tsume dared to ask the pug who sat next to the boy.

The pug's eternal frown seemed even deeper than usual as he looked to the clan head, "Kakashi had us out to find Naruto and Sasuke," the dogs growled at the Uchiha's mention, "but when I led him to them, I saw how badly Naruto was hurt, I tried to get Kakashi to help, since there was no way I could carry Naruto myself, but he was so worried about the Uchiha, who wasn't near as injured, that he didn't seem to hear me and he took off and left the kid there in the rain. I called out for help, which I assume is why you're here," the woman nodded and he patted the large dog he sat on, "luckily Bull here was closest and we were able to get going, but I am afraid the poor kid won't last much longer without medical help."

At that moment, the only thing that rivaled Tsume's anger at Kakashi was her worry for the young boy, "But what about…"

The pug shook his little head, "even IT seems to be struggling to keep him alive, we need to get him to Tsunade, and fast," he said as they neared the village gates.

Tsume could see the village gates, and could see a head of silver hair talking to a blonde woman, and when she could hear what the silver haired scarecrow was saying, she let out a loud deep growl of her own, which was echoed by her partner as they dashed forward, _Kakashi, you lying sonova bitch,_ she thought as she closed in on the scarecrow, her fist raised_, YOU DISLOYAL, TRAITOR HELPING LITTLE…_

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Tsunade stood at the gates of Konohagakure, nervously awaiting the return of a certain blonde, and worrying like crazy. Naruto was the only member of the retrieval team who hadn't yet returned. Shikamaru and Kiba were fine, Akamaru was still down, but Kiba's sister was keeping a close eye on him, Shizune was operating on Neji, and Tsunade had just stabilized Choji, so now all she could do is wait for the young blonde to return. _Knowing him, he's probably going to pass out the moment he steps through the gate, _she thought, with a sad smile, just before she noticed movement in the distance, but her smile disappeared when she noticed a distinct lack of orange in the group.

Kakashi landed with the medic nin that had been following him for a short while, and allowed them to place Sasuke on a stretcher, and turned to his boss, "Tsunade-sama, please, Sasuke needs help."

Tsunade glanced over the Uchiha, "he's fine, just minor lacerations and chakra exhaustion," she turned to the Cyclops with a worried look, "but where's Naruto?"

Kakashi had to think fast, in his haste to help his prodigy, he had forgotten completely about the orange clad teammate, "Uh… well, Tsunade-sama, I am sorry, but…but by the time I had arrived, he was too far gone," he saw tears forming in his leaders eyes, "I am afraid he wasn't going to make it, so I took Sasuke for healing and so Naruto's last mission could be a success." By now Tsunade had tears flowing from her eyes, "I am sorry, Tsunade-sama, but…"

"BASTARD," a woman yelled as a fist smashed into the side of Kakashi's head, propelling him into a wall, and leaving a small crater.

As he slumped to the ground, Kakashi looked up to see Tsume Inuzuka standing before him, and she looked pissed, "Tsume-san, what is this abou-AUGH," Kakashi tried to raise his arm to defend himself, only to feel an extreme pain. He looked to see Kuromaru's jaws closing on his arm, before he heard a sickening crack, and the massive hound twisted his head and flung the jonin into another wall, where Tsume began to beat him again.

Tsunade was caught off guard by the clan head's sudden assault, but before she could ask why, a small, gravelly voice spoke behind her, "Tsunade, the kid needs help," she turned to see a pack of dogs carrying one of the few people she had left, and he was in bad shape.

Kakashi's problem forgotten, Tsunade rushed to Naruto's aid, her hands glowing green as she placed them over his wound, tears still falling, "Don't you even THINK of dying here Naruto, or I…I'll," she couldn't even finish her threat, she just continued her healing, despite the screams of pain in the background. When she had stabilized him enough, she turned to the large black dog that carried him and summoned a pink slug, about the size of her head and placed it on Naruto's chest.

"Tsunade-sama, how may I help you?"

"I need you to monitor the boy's health and continue healing," she turned her attention to the dog, "and I need you to get him to the hospital, I'll be right behind you." The large dog nodded and took off as fast as he could, while carrying the pug, the slug, and the boy, with the rest of the pack following, save for the smaller white one. For a moment Tsunade prayed before turning to the bruised and beaten mess that was Kakashi, with the angry dog-woman almost ready to start in on him again. "Tsume, what is this about?"

Tsume turned to her boss and scowled, "The pug told me this bastard found both Uzumaki-kun and the Uchiha, and despite the pug's warning about Uzumaki-kun's condition, he still chose to help the traitorous bastard, he didn't even spare the pup a first glance, let alone a second. This bastard betrayed a loyal pup and tried to lie to you about it, and that pissed me off, so…"

Tsunade raised her hand to silence the younger woman and turned to the beaten Cyclops, "_Kakashi_," she spoke in a voice dripping with venom, "is this true?" Kakashi could only whimper before Tsunade raised her foot and brought it down with full force on his crotch, driving him into the ground, screaming. "C'mon, Tsume, I need to help Naruto." And the two women left with the large dog, leaving Kakashi with bad, but survivable wounds, but he was in incredible pain in front of his summon.

"Shiba, get help," the little white dog went to his side and… peed on the Cyclops before leaving.

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"What the heck are you talking about? Don't tell me a snake found me again, last time it took weeks to get the smell of snake guts out of my clothes."

Kyuubi chuckled, "Don't worry, kit, they're friends, even if they wouldn't be my first choice for rescuers, beggars can't be choosers."

"What do you mean not your first choice?"

"Well, foxes and dogs have a bit of a negative history, but these ones seem worried about you, so it should be alright."

Naruto was a bit relieved that something cared enough to help him, he sat down and noticed that the water was completely gone, "hey, Kyuubi."

"Yes, kit."

"I have a question, this is like, my soul, right, since you're sealed here," she nodded, "Then can you tell me why it looks like a freaking sewer?"

Kyuubi turned her back to him and leaned against her bars, "In a way, it's because of me, because of the life you lead. Despite what you want others to see, you're always in pain, you're afraid, you're scared, not knowing who to trust, afraid those who you think of as friends will leave you when they learn of me. Your mind is darkened with fear and it became this, but, believe it or not, this is better than what it used to be when you were young, it had already gotten better by the time you first came to see me since your life had gotten a bit better, maybe before long, I will have some sunlight in here, or maybe a bit more space to run around."

"But even if it gets better out here, won't you still be sealed?"

"Don't be so depressing, kit, besides, I've been trying to think of how I can get out without ending your life, but it's a no go yet," she sighed, "so, yeah, I would still be sealed, but that doesn't mean I can't go from a cage to a kennel, and have some room to stretch my legs. In that first endeavor, though, you could be of some assistance," she looked at his confused look, "I mean you can help me get out of this damn seal."

"What, if you think I'm gonna let you out just to smash up the village again, then you…" Naruto yelled before Kyuubi silenced him with a glare. He could see anger in those eyes, but, for some reason, he could see pain.

"Naruto," she spoke softly, "this is the truth, I don't want to go too far into the details, but that night I did not want to attack your village. I never had any love for them, and I hold even less than that after how you were hurt by them so much, but I had no reason or desire to attack them. I don't know who it was or why, but someone was controlling me."

"And you just expect me to believe some unknown person caused one of the most powerful creatures in the world to go on a psycho rampage?"

Kyuubi pouted, "I'm hurt, Naruto, I have no reason to lie to you, and do you know what it does to my pride to know that there could still be someone out there who could control me, who can make me do what they want against my will? Kinda the way that pink-haired wench treats you."

"HEY, don't you start making fun of Sakura-chan."

"I'll insult whoever I damn well feel like, gaki. Let me ask you something, do you know on average how many times that screw-loose little witch beats you in a given day? Between ten and fifteen times a day, and I'll tell you something else, not only would half of those beatings have put a normal person in a coma, but a few you've gotten from her would have KILLED you if not for me!" Naruto was visibly shaken, but Kyuubi continued, "I know for some reason, you care about that pink haired little rat, but enough is enough, you need to either stay away from her or tell her to back the hell off."

Naruto suddenly looked worse than when he had arrived, and the room suddenly got a bit darker, "Sakura-chan…tried to kill me, like all the rest of them?"

Kyuubi suddenly wished she had somehow been a bit more subtle, the last thing she wanted to do was drive her host into a deeper depression, "Well I wouldn't say that, she didn't do so on purpose, she just has a serious anger issue you should talk to her about, or have her see a shrink about. I think deep down, VERY deep down, she might care about you, but she has been too blinded by her desire for the Uchiha to see the damage she caused, and you don't seem to be able to get around your little crush in order to see the way she acts, or to see the others who care about you." She said thinking about the pale-eyed young teen that was obviously head over heels for the blonde.

"You seem to be worrying about a lot of things that don't really affect you, why?"

Kyuubi chuckled a little, "I'll answer your question with one of my own. Do you really know anything about kitsune?" Naruto shook his head, "Well we have several traits that we take great pride in, one of the most important of which is our sense of honor. We are bound by our word, and while some may twist the meaning words, any fox that willingly breaks their promise or oath is considered an outcast at best and an enemy at worst. Like I said before I truly am sorry about what you have been put through because of me, but what you have done today would raise any kitsune's view of you, you took the more difficult route and almost died to keep your word, that with the strength of body and will you show almost every day, along with the fact that you aren't exactly bad looking either, would be enough to catch any vixen's eye among my people, and among most humans too, the only reason you don't have a fan club of your own is probably, once again, due to me and the adults of the village. It might not mean much, but I am proud of you." Naruto was about to say something else, but she raised her hand to silence him, "Look, kit, I know you might have some more questions, and I will answer them later, but I can guess from the outside scents and the repairs that were just made to your body, you are in or close to the village, and in the slug woman's care. You have been through a lot in the past day, and you should get some rest, okay?" Naruto nodded, "come closer for a moment," she said, as he moved next to the cage she grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, his head slipping in between the bars and onto her chest as she planted a light kiss on his forehead, "sweet dreams, kit" she said as his consciousness faded.

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Naruto woke to a familiar sight, a white tiled ceiling, but there was something new that hadn't been in the room any other time he had been in the hospital. To his right, between the bed and the window, was a sleeping person, who looked like she had been there a while. She looked tuff and a bit masculine, but without the heavy jonin vest that hung on the back of the chair she sat on, she was nicely endowed, but had a good lean body. She had a feral look, with her wild, dark brown hair and the red fang marks on her cheeks, which reminded Naruto of Kiba, maybe this woman was related. Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by a shuffling on the other side of his bed, he turned his head and suddenly locked eyes with what seemed to be a large, shaggy, one eyed, black wolf dog.

"About time you woke up, pup."

Naruto bolted up and yelled, a split second before he was pushed back to his mattress and the woman held him down. Standing over him with a kunai in her other hand as she quickly surveyed the room. When she saw that there was no current threat, she looked down to the boy, "What happened, Uzumaki-kun, are you alright?"

Before Naruto could answer, the dog let a strange high yipping, almost like laughter, "My, Tsume, you're rather protective of the stray, aren't you. Are you lookin to adopt him, or lookin to get a new litter out of him."

The woman, Tsume, muttered something like "stupid mutt" before she straitened up and put her vest back on before she turned to Naruto, "Sorry, Uzumaki-kun, I heard you yell and assumed the worst, considering your past. My name is Tsume Inuzuka, and the mutt next to you is my partner, Kuromaru."

"Are you related to Kiba, how is he? How is everyone else? Was Sasuke caught?"

"Calm down kid, yes, I am related to that little baka, Kiba's my son, and he's fine. Everyone else is fine, a couple of them were in critical condition, but you came out of it the worst. And yes, unfortunately, Uchiha-teme is back in the village, your mission succeeded."

"You aren't happy Sasuke is back? Why?"

"Where do I start, we Inuzuka never really got along well with the Uchiha to begin with, they were always pompous and stuck-up, they cared only about power, no matter what they had to do to get it. They always felt like they were the best in the village, no, the best in the world, like we should have dropped to our knees everyday to thank them for being in our village. The only Uchiha I ever met that I liked was the brat's mother, Mikoto. My next problem is that this Sasuke is a spoiled, self-obsessed little punk who only cares about himself, and he tried to betray the village, and if there's anything an Inuzuka values, its loyalty. That's why we never even tried to adopt him, we never trusted the Uchiha clan, I would rather have adopted you, but the damned civilian council wouldn't let me."

"You tried to adopt me? Why? And why wouldn't they?"

She just pointed to his stomach, knowing he knew of the fox's presence, "I tried twice, the first time Fugaku, Mikoto's husband, said that putting you in 'such a savage and beastly clan' might awaken the beast in you, and the second time the bakas just said it was a bad idea to put foxes with dogs." She stopped and took a few deep breaths, "I wanted you in my clan so I could help you, the Yondaime wanted you to be seen as a hero, and that's how I see you, and why I personally beat the tar out of any Inuzuka that was found to be participating in those 'fox hunts', and I gotta say, the fact that you still stay with this village after all that those idiots did to you shows how loyal you can truly be, and like I said, an Inuzuka values loyalty. Who knows, maybe I can still get you in my clan, my daughter, Hana, is first in line for clan head, and she'll need a mate before she can become alpha, I think you would be great in a few years," Tsume said, smiling mischievously at Naruto's blush.

"I would rather you not try to marry him off without his approval, Tsume." They both turned to see Tsunade standing in the doorway, arms crossed, with Shizune beside her, holding Tonton. Both of them had serious looks on their faces as they each walked to either side of his bed, as Naruto braced himself for a hit, and Tsume seemed ready to pull the hokage off him, when the two woman hugged him and the little pig hopped on his chest, nuzzling her snout into his chin.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, gaki," Tsunade said with tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey, Obaa-chan, Shizune-nee-chan, Tonton, I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine, you almost died, and anyone else would have in your position."

"Yeah, yeah, I already got an earful from Kyuubi on that."

Everyone's jaws dropped at that, Tsume asked, "You talk to him?"

"Her."

"What?"

Naruto chuckled a bit at the looks he was getting, "I said 'her', I was surprised too, but Kyuubi is a woman, and she's really not that bad, once you get to know her."

Shizune looked a bit worried, "Naruto, she tried to destroy the village."

"She says someone was controlling her."

"But how do you know she isn't lying, Kyuubi the most powerful bijuu, how could someone just take control of her."

Tsunade thought for a moment, "It might not be so farfetched, my grandfather was famous for being able to control a bijuu's power, and Madara Uchiha was supposed to have some way to control them as well. I guess it could be possible some powerful genjutsu or new or unknown kekkei genkai could have done it. Do you believe what she says, Naruto?"

He nodded, "She's a bit weird, but she seems to be rather nice and friendly too. I'm pretty sure she was telling the truth."

Tsunade sighed, "Well, this might be something I should have Jiraya check into, if someone strong enough to control the Kyuubi wants to destroy the village, we should at least know who it is. For now, though, Tsume, it's about time for the council meeting, so you may want to get home and wash up, you've been waiting here for a while and quite frankly, you smell."

Naruto looked confused, "Why did you have her looking after me for so long then, obaa-chan?"

Tsume softly smiled, "I was actually here on my own, kid." She said as she headed to the door, "I was worried about you, believe it or not, not everyone has to be ordered to help you. So remember, if you need some help, a sparring partner, or maybe just someone to talk to, you can drop by my clan home, okay?" Naruto nodded, "C'mon Kuromaru."

The dog waited at the door for a moment and turned his head to the boy, "Take care of yourself, pup, Tsume seems to really care about you." And the hound left.

"Well, Naruto," Tsunade said, "We will have to get going soon, too, but I want you to get some rest, so I got a jonin who was kind enough to volunteer some of her free time just to make sure you stay in bed, so behave yourself."

"Okay, but who is it obaa…"

Naruto was cut off by a person jumping through the window, "Arriving!"

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^------------------------------------------

Kuromaru looked to his human partner as they closed in on their home, Tsume had been quiet the entire time as they leapt across rooftops, and usually she would strike up some semblance of a conversation, but not now.

"Tsume, what's bothering you?"

Tsume sighed, "I'm worried about Naruto-kun."

"Why, Tsunade-sama said he would be fine with some rest, thanks to his vixen friend." Kuromaru could accept the Kyuubi being a female, especially given the bitches he had encountered in his life, and was glad the pup was now on good terms with his tenant if it would help Naruto.

"Yeah, I know, but that's not what worries me. I'm worried the council might be planning something. Despite the hero he really is, I just know the damn civilians and those old as hell bastards will try something to twist this entire situation in favor of the Uchiha and maybe give them a reason to do away with Naruto."

"You're really taking a liking to this pup, aren't you?"

"What's not to like, he's a strong, loyal, caring, energetic little brat. He has stared death in the eye more than some jonin, he just got the short end of the stick in life." Tsume was quiet for a moment, "I am thinking of giving _that_ to him, what do you think?"

Kuromaru smiled, or at least as much as a dog could, "I think the pup has proven himself more than worthy." He thought for a moment, "Hey, were you serious about marrying him off to Hana?"

Tsume thought for a moment, before shooting her partner a big, Naruto-like grin, "Are you kidding, with his personality, and that rumored stamina of his, the only thing keeping ME away from him is the fact that Tsunade might just kill me for it."

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^----------------------------------

Naruto was backed up against the wall and shaking, "Y-you're that insane, bloodsucking exam proctor!"

Anko huffed as Tsunade bopped her fellow blond on the head, "Show some gratitude, Naruto, Anko volunteered to keep you safe and to keep an eye on you, even on her day off, as a favor, so don't just insult her like that."

"But baa-chan, she really did suck my blood at the exams."

Anko huffed again as she crossed her arms, "I didn't sunk, I licked." Everyone sweat dropped, "Besides you can't tell me you where scared of little ol' me after facing scar-face Ibiki."

"Well he would have scared me more if he drank my blood," Naruto said, shuddering at the image he just put in his own head.

"It was just meant to scare ya, gaki, and you have to admit it worked."

"Naruto," Tsunade growled, "stop arguing, the fact still stands that she volunteered her own free time to keep an eye on you, even without pay. Now I have to go to the council meeting, and she will make sure you stay here and rest. Let's go, Shizune."

As Tsunade headed for the door, Shizune picked up Tonton, only to have the little pig squirm out of her grip and jump back on Naruto's bed and sat on his stomach, oinking defiantly.

Shizune shook her head a bit, "do you mind if she stays with you, Naruto, when she gets like this she's more stubborn than Tsunade."

Naruto looked towards the Tonton, only to be greeted with a big pair of sad, puppy eyes that seemed on the verge of tears. Powerless against such a cute face, he sighed and patted her on the head, "Why not," Tonton was ecstatic at his answer, and started rubbing her nose against his chin again.

Shizune smiled and moved to leave the room, but stopped at the door, "Please stay put, Naruto, you need to rest, and you don't want to worry me and Tsunade, do you?"

"No, Shizune-nee-chan."

When Shizune left, Anko sat in the chair Tsume had slept in and started picking at her nails with a kunai. Naruto spent a few minutes petting Tonton before he looked to Anko.

"Why?" he almost whispered.

Anko looked up, "What was that?"

"Why are you here, obaa-chan said it is your day off, and you aren't paid, so why are you here?"

Almost instantly Anko's expression changed from the passively bored look she was wearing to a sad distant look, "Can't you just accept someone was worried about you, Gaki?"

"But why? We never met until the exams, and this is the longest we've ever talked."

"Let's just say, we…are more alike than you realize." She began to balance the the kunai with its point on the tip of her finger, "Let me tell you a story, once upon a time, there was a gennin kunoichi who was orphaned when her parents died on a mission. She was taken as an apprentice by one of the strongest ninja in the entire village. She trained with him, learned from him, trusted him, cared for him, she even had a little crush on him. Then one day, out of nowhere, he says that they are going on a training journey, they left suddenly. Once in a while, they would stop at a strange place, he would start to include her in things, and have her assist in experiments on people that could only be described as… twisted and inhuman. She helped him because he said that they were authorized by their Kage. On some level, she knew that it was a lie, that the Kage would never allow what she had seen and done, but she was blinded by her devotion." Anko's eye started to tear up a bit, "But soon it became too much, she couldn't just turn a blind eye any longer, and when she started to speak out against them, he abandoned her, but," Anko pulled the collar of her coat, revealing her curse mark, "not before he left her with a parting gift. She suffered and screamed and cried for days because of that curse. When the pain began to leave her, she walked out of the room she was in, to find the entire building abandoned, she was alone. She eventually made it back to her village, only to find that she had been declared a nuke-nin, and was arrested and interrogated the moment she got back to her village. Her Kage believed her that she hadn't really known that her sensei had abandoned the village, same as he had done to her, but few others did. Many, both shinobi and civilian saw her like she was no different from her former teacher, like she would soon restart his perversions against nature. At best she was insulted, at worst they would try to attack her, one even tried to rape her, but she was strong enough to defend herself, and that one man never did anything concerning that part of his body again."

Naruto looked down at Tonton, whose ears had dropped with the mood, "I'm sorry, I didn't know." This woman WAS like him, she knew the glares and hateful words that plagued their lives.

Anko put on a sad smirk, "No need to apologize, kid, in fact, I should be thanking you though," she saw his confused expression but continued, "You see, the same idiots that don't see me for me are usually the same ones that don't see you for you. And it seems that they hate demons more than traitors. Usually when I was attacked, it was some drunken villager or a low level chunin, opponents I could handle," a tear formed in her eye, "but that's because the more organized groups and higher level ninja where after you, each hit you took was one I didn't have to. So I'm sorry," she wrapped her arms around the boy, her head on his shoulder, "and thank you."

Naruto smiled and hugged her back for a moment, "You know what you can do to thank me?"

Anko released him, "Aren't you a little young for that?"

Naruto tuned bright red, "No no no, I was just wondering if you could get me some Ichiraku ramen?"

"Aw, too bad," and she chuckled as a couple shadow clones popped up, "What do you want?"

"Three beef, two chicken, and four miso, please."

"Oink-oink."

Naruto smiled at the pig, "Make that five miso ramen."

The clones jumped out the window to get the boys order and the original tuned to Naruto, "Mind if I ask you a question now?" He nodded, "Why did you hold back? I've seen what you can do, you're stronger than most know, and with your furry friend, you should have been able to take the little bitch down easy."

"Kyuubi already yelled at me for that too."

Anko raised an eyebrow, "You…talk to it?"

"Her," Naruto sighed, "And I can, but only when I sleep, or get knocked out, and sometimes if I get thrown off a cliff." Anko suddenly burst out laughing, "What's so funny?"

"You…you called me crazy, and you're the one with voices in your head."

"Nu uh, it's just the one voice," Naruto replied.

Anko doubled over, and took a few moments to calm down, "Hehe…sorry, but you still didn't answer my question, why did you let yourself get so beat-up?"

Naruto's expression dropped as he looked to Tonton, who also had a curious look on her face as well, "Because…I promised Sakura-chan I would bring him back, I would have killed him if I went all out with that power."

"Sakura? You mean that pink-haired little Uchiha-fanatic from your team?" He nodded, "So you almost died to keep a promise to an abusive, sad, sorry excuse of a kunoichi? Why!?"

"Cause, I liked her."

"Liked?"

"Well…I'm just not sure anymore, I still feel like she's real important to me, but I don't think she will ever see Sasuke for what he is. And Kyuubi was mad at me for liking her, she said that some of the times Sakura-chan hit me," tears formed in his eyes,"…that without Kyuubi she could have put me in a coma, or even killed me. That thought hurt more than what Sasuke did to me."

Anko ruffled his hair a bit, "Hey, it's her loss; you seem like a good kid. If I was a few years younger, but then, spending time with people like Tsume, Tsunade, and Shizune maybe you like older women," she laughed at his blush, _I swear, if that little, pink haired Uchiha slut tries anything, I do things to her that would make Ibiki puke and soil himself before passing out._

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^------------------------------

Across town on a small bridge, Sakura Haruno sneezed as a chill ran through her very soul, _What was that? It felt like…someone walked over my grave._

"Hey, Forehead!"

Sakura turned to see Ino running to her, "What is it, Ino-pig?"

"They're back, Shikamaru's team is back, c'mon let's go," the blonde girl said as she dragged her friend to the hospital. When they got there, first thing Ino did was inquiring about her teammates, and headed off to Choji's room. Sakura asked to be taken to Sasuke's room. She got there to find a pair of ANBU guarding the door, she barely managed to look in the door, seeing Sasuke wrapped in a bunch of bandages and still out cold, before one of the Anbu, a cat-masked woman with purple hair, stepped in front of her.

"I'm sorry, miss, but by the orders of Hokage-sama, no one outside of hospital staff is allowed to visit the Uchiha until his trial."

"Trial? But he was barely gone a day, they're already gonna tri him as a nuke-nin?"

Yuugao almost felt like bopping the girl, she knew of this teen and her actions to her teammates, especially towards her former charge, "Haruno-san, Uchiha fled Konoha with the full intent of joining a known enemy, with the aid of enemy shinobi, directly and indirectly almost causing the deaths of your fellow leaf-nin. Despite what leeway his family may have once had, he will go to trial. Furthermore," she added with a glare that sent chills through Sakura's spine, "He's lucky his captor was so lenient, had I been there, he would be missing a limb."

"What do you mean his captor?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, he fought the Uchiha, almost losing his life, and knocked him out to be collected by another ninja."

Sakura turned to head to see her blonde teammate, angry, _I can't believe Naruto beat Sasuke-kun like that._

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^-----------------------------

Anko's clones arrived quickly, two carrying carry-out bowls of ramen and one had an armful of dango boxes. The original started chowing down, inhaling the dumplings almost as fast as Naruto did the noodles, Tonton's bowl set on the floor as she ate at a much slower pace. When they finished, they began to talk and swap stories, Anko talking about some of her less classified missions, and Naruto about his better pranks and missions.

"You actually took out Kabuto? Even Kakashi-teme had trouble against him."

"Well, it was kind of a draw, we both went down, but I sent him right through a bolder."

Anko was chuckling when she felt a vaguely familiar chakra signature approaching, once she realized who it was, she turned to the blonde, "Hey, I'll be right back, I have to use the john." She walked out and closed the door, and, after applying a quick soundproofing jutsu to the door, she immediately hid herself from sight.

Moments later Sakura came walking down the hall and stopped at the door to Naruto's room, but before she could enter, she felt something wrap around her arms, legs and waist before she was slammed into the wall.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going, bitch?" Sakura turned her head to see the exam proctor, with a bunch of snakes coming from her sleeve.

"I came to see my teammate, ma'am," Sakura was upset, but knew better than to anger a jonin.

Anko narrowed her eyes, "Well, I don't think that's such a good idea."

"But, I'm his teammate," she said before one of the sakes on her arm hissed.

"Yeah, but you're also the reason he almost died, and someone who mindlessly abuses him, what, you think I didn't know. I'm gonna tell you something, wench, Naruto's more resilient than most chunin, and if it weren't for that and his healing abilities, a few of those hits of yours would have killed him," Sakura looked shocked, and Anko raised her other arm, and a dark green serpent slithered out of her sleeve and rested its head on her palm, "you see this little guy, he's what's called a black mamba, a type of snake that is extremely venomous. His venom will cause double vision, fever, paralysis, convulsions, coma, and then death, sometimes all within fifteen minutes of the bite. In fact, there's a little saying about them 'do you know what the difference is between finding a tiger in the jungle, and finding a black mamba?'" Sakura shook her head, too scared to speak, "If you find a tiger, you might live to tell the tale." Anko gave the snake a quick peck on the head, then turned back to the teen, "Now I want you to leave, and if I EVER find out you caused that boy any harm, physical, mental, or emotional, again, I WILL have my buddy here pay you a late night visit."

"B-b-but…"

"No buts you little bitch, that little guy in that hospital bed has been through hell time and time again, and almost DIED to keep that dumbass promise to you and bring your precious Uchiha back alive, when he could have easily killed the bastard. And he actually cared about you, and for some reason still does even despite your insults and abuse, but I'm not gonna let him put up with your crap any longer," the snakes released Sakura and she dropped to her knees, "You're a pathetic excuse for a kunoichi, and until you change your ways, I don't want to see you near him. Now get the hell out of my sight."

Sakura broke into tears and ran off. Anko just shook her head, _Naruto will be mad if he finds out, but she needed a kick in the ass._ She released the sound barrier and returned to her new friend and charge.

"Feel better, Anko-nee-chan?"

Anko flashed her mischievous grin and walked to his bed, "Nee-chan? How about just –chan, it won't make me sound as old. Besides," she laid next to him and pulled close, putting his head on her chest, "if I where your sister, this might be awkward."

_THWUMP_

The two looked to the door to see Kurenai standing beside a passed out, twitching Hinata, with a small pot of flowers clutched to her chest. Kurenai picked the girl up and placed her in a chair, before turning to Anko and Naruto and speaking in a voice that was quiet, but promised a lot of pain if she got the wrong answer, "Anko, what are you doing?"

"What ever do you mean, Nai-chan," Anko said, feigning innocence, "Tsunade asked to keep a close eye on Naruto-kun, so I am."

"It looks more like you're keeping a close something on him, but it's definitely NOT your eyes," the red eyed woman moved to the door, "Naruto, would you stay here with Hinata for a few minutes, I need to talk to Anko, alone." And she left the room.

Naruto just chuckled, "Anko-chan's in trouble," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, shut up gaki," Anko grunted as she left the room behind her friend, closing the door behind her, when she sealed the door she turned to Kurenai, "Look, Nai-chan, I was just having some fun with the kid, we were just playing."

Kurenai was staring Anko down, "Anko, I would prefer you not play like that with one so young."

"Please, he's old enough to get that close to death, he can do what he wants. Besides," Anko's face turned serious, "you know how much I owe that kid in there. How many times did you help me get those bastards to back off me?" Kurenai Looked to the ground, that wasn't a subject she liked, but Anko continued, "Now imagine if the tougher bastards hadn't been busy with Naruto. I might not be here talking to you now."

"Anko, I know you feel you owe him, but you aren't the only one who cares about him, you know."

Anko grinned, "I could tell, the Hyuga seems to be hopelessly head-over-heels for the kid. But you know, she is kinda cute, and I don't mind sharing."

The genjutsu mistress sighed, "Anko, I would like it if you didn't go around trying to corrupt my students."

"Um, excuse me?" The two jonin turned to see a blonde genin.

"Hello, Ino, can we help you?"

"Actually, Kurenai-sensei, I was looking for Naruto's room, I wanted to check on him, Choji was pretty beat up and Shikamaru said Naruto's opponent was tougher than the others, and I heard he was really hurt."

Anko finally recognized the girl, "Aren't you the one who got knocked out by the pink haired wimp in the exams?" Ino looked ticked off, but just answered with a nod, "Well, he was in pretty bad condition, but he's up now, though just to set you straight, the Uchiha brat is the one who put the Chidori hole in Naruto's chest."

Ino was surprised as she followed the women into the room, from what she had heard, she thought that Sasuke had been kidnapped, but she learned the truth when she tried to visit him and the cat ANBU had told her the truth. First she was heartbroken that her crush had so willingly betrayed the village for the one who killed the Sandaime, then she was just angry that he had almost caused her teammates death, now she was just worried about her fellow blonde, she had heard he was badly injured from the ANBU, but had assumed it was from the sound-nin, to hear that Sasuke had not only used the same jutsu she had seen punch through a solid wall of sand on a leaf nin, but on his teammate! Ino almost wished she could use some of her father's mind altering jutsu on the Uchiha.

Ino was more surprised, however, that the same blonde, still wrapped in bandages, was just sitting on a table petting a small pig with a bunch of empty bowls next to him, and acting like he was never injured, "Hey, Ino, good to see you."

"Um, hey Naruto, how are you doing, I heard you were pretty badly hurt."

Naruto just waved it off, "Nah, I heal pretty fast, I'm only still here because baa-chan has Anko-chan here making sure I stay put, and Tonton stay as well, didn't you?" he said as he tapped the pigs snout playfully, getting a happy squeal in return.

Ino chuckled a little at the scene, _Like a father and a baby_, she shook the thought from her head, _why am I thinking of Naruto as a dad?_ Ino's thought were interrupted by a soft 'eep' beside Naruto's bed, she looked to see Hinata was coming to in a chair she hadn't noticed, _I guess she saw Naruto all banged up and fainted._

"Hey Hinata, you're awake, are you okay?" Naruto asked in his usual cheery voice, seemingly forgetting that it was him who was in the hospital.

Hinata turned her usual shade of red, "Y-y-yes Naruto-kun, I'm fine," then she remembered the flowers in her hands and held them out to him, "I-I got these f-for you Naruto-kun."

Naruto took the pot, in it were a group of small violet flowers, "Lavender flowers, thanks Hinata, these could be useful."

Hinata nodded, "You're w-welcome, Naruto-kun, I usually g-grow them for my herbal t-tea."

"Really, you'll have to make me some sometime. I figured you'd use it in those salves of yours, these little guys can be pretty good for bringing down swelling, helping bug bites, and fixing burns too."

Ino was amazed, "I didn't know you knew anything about flowers Naruto."

The boy just grinned, "I'm a man of many talents, Ino, gardening is a hobby of mine and…oh crud," he smaked his fore head and looked back to Ino, "Hey, Ino, you work at a flower shop, Right?" She nodded, "Would you mind doing me a favor, at my apartment is a small window box, would you mind taking care of it while I'm here?"

"Um, I guess I could, but I don't know where your place is."

"No problem," Naruto bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood, went through a few hand signs and brought his palm down on his lap and in a puff of smoke a small orange toad appeared on the bed next to Tonton.

"Hey, aniki, got any sna-WHOA, what the hell happened to you," Gamakichi, worried about the bandages on his friend.

"I'll explain later, Kichi, I need you to show Ino where my place is so she can take care of my plants while I'm here, Ino this is," Naruto looked up to see the blonde girl up against the far wall, "what's wrong?"

"B-b-big f-frog."

Gamakichi got a bit angry at this, "Hey, I'm a toad, not a frog!"

"Gamakichi, calm down, and Ino, it's alright, Kichi won't hurt you," he motioned her to the bed, when she was next to him, "Ino, this is Gamakichi, the older son of Gamabunta, the toad boss. Gamakichi, this is Ino, Hinata, Anko, and Kurenai-sensei. Like I said, I need you to show Ino where I live so she can take care of my flowers, feel free to grab a bag of chips while you're there, and get one for Tatsu too."

"Thanks, aniki, but are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"You shouldn't be, you were damn close to dead." Everyone looked to the window to see Pakkun and another dog, a medium sized Doberman with a small sword on its back. Anko visibly tensed at the sight of one of Kakashi's summon dogs, Pakkun interrupted, "Don't worry Anko, I am in no way here on Hatake's behalf."

Naruto was a bit confused, Pakkun seemed to just growl out Kakashi's name, and Anko and the other dog seemed to scowl at his mention, "Hey, is something wrong with Kakashi-sensei?"

Pakkun cocked his head to the side, "You weren't told? Well, I guess Tsunade wanted to wait until you were recovered," he saw Naruto's expression become even more confused, as well as the younger girls, "There's no real easy way to tell you this kid, but Hatake…left you for dead in the Valley." Naruto's expression suddenly went south, but the pug continued, "He summoned me and the others to find you and the Uchiha. When we got there, I tried to get him to help you, but he only went to help Sasuke. Luckily, bull was close and we got you to Tsunade in time."

Naruto was on the verge of tears, Anko and Kurenai were pissed beyond belief, Ino was shocked that a teacher could do such a thing, and Hinata, she had a blank look on her face except for a slight twitch in one eye, but her mind was going a mile a minute trying to think of every possible way she hurt the jonin.

Hinata was actually the first to speak, albeit in a cold, emotionless voice, "Where is Kakashi now?"

Pakkun was surprised at the bloodlust rolling of the young woman, "Actually, he's a few floors up. When Tsunade and that Inuzuka woman found out, the woman beat the tar out of him, and Tsunade hit him with a super kick to the groin." The rage radiating from Hinata seemed to die down a bit.

"I think I should get going, I still have to get your plants before I can go home." Ino said, motioning for the toad to follow.

"Thanks again, Ino, and feel free to stop by again, baa-chan said I will be here a few days and, no offence to Anko-chan, baa-chan and Tsume, but it's nice to have people my age visit, like you two."

Ino was confused, "Wait, wasn't forehead here?"

"No… she's probably waiting for Sasuke to make up."

"She can't be, ANBU won't let anyone in to see him, or I'd have him thinking he was a little pigtailed girl for getting my teammates hurt." She sighed and went out the door, but stopped just before closing it, "Hey, Naruto… Good job." And she closed the door. _Where the hell are you, Sakura?_

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^--------------------------------------

Sakura Haruno was at training ground seven, in front of the same log her teammate had been tied to, as the sun started to set. She had finally stopped crying after her experience with the snake-jonin and had been thinking about what she had been told. She had seen Naruto picked on at school, but she didn't see how that could be considered hell as Anko had put it.

_**But then again, we never saw what things were like for him out of school,**_ the voice in the back of her head had been bothering her more over the past few hours.

_I didn't see him out of school because he was annoying, always bugging me for dates._

_**You mean the same way you bugged Sasuke?**_

__Sakura shook her head, _No, that was… different._

_**You're right, Naruto didn't almost kill people when you turned him down.**_

___That had to be a lie, there's no way I could have done that._

_**Well, you do seem to get that boost when you get angry.**_

__Sakura stood and faced the log, then looked at her own fist, _But, there's no way…_Sakura thought back to all that stuff that had always pissed her off about Naruto, but for some reason, she couldn't get mad about it. She'd see him bugging her for a date, but then she'd herself doing the same to Sasuke. She see him doing something stupid, but then she couldn't help but think of something nice or encouraging he had done for her. Tears fell from her eyes again, _Was that proctor right?_

Anko's voice drifted from her memory, _you're the one who mindlessly abuses him._

__"Shut up."

_You're a pathetic excuse for a kunoichi._

"Shut up!" she clinched her eyes shut, trying to ignore the memories.

_You're the reason he almost died._

"SHUT UP!" Sakura thrust her fist forward and heard the sound of wood breaking, she opened her eyes and saw, along with her slightly bloodied fist, that she had almost completely cracked the thick log in half. Seeing the destruction she had caused, Sakura dropped to her knees, _Wha…but, is that what Naruto has been getting hit with all this time? Oh..Oh god,_ she started crying more than ever, _Naruto, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry._

_Until you change your ways, I don't want to see you near him again._

Sakura looked at her hand. It didn't feel broken or even hurt that badly, it just stung a bit. She then looked to the setting sun, _I swear Naruto, I will get stronger, and I will make it up to you for what I've done._

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^---------------------------------

First chapter end

I just want to say I have no idea how long it will be between updates.


	2. Chapter 2

_**If you think I own Naruto, or any major series of manga or anime then, guess what, I have some magic beans I am willing to part with for a few grand.**_

**Chapter 2**

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

Kakashi groaned as he opened his eye, he could still feel the phantom pain despite the floating feeling from the pain killers. _I feel like sensei dropped Gamabunta on me._

"Oh, you're awake, Hatake-san," a neutral sounding voice said. Kakashi rolled his eye to the right of his bed, where a female doctor stood, "I had expected you to be out for a few days. How do you feel?"

"Like the Hokage Monument was dropped on me," the Cyclops said as he tried to test his own mobility.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Hatake-san, you were very banged up. Now I am afraid I have some good news and some bad news, the good news is that you have a fractured humerus, 4 broken ribs, minor internal bleeding, and a fractured pelvis, but you will eventually make an almost complete recovery, which is not bad considering who it was who beat you like this."

"What do you mean 'almost'?"

The doctor, Ryouko, kept her neutral emotionless expression, but on the inside she was laughing her ass off. She had idolized Tsunade since she was a little girl, but didn't quite have the physical drive to be a ninja, so instead she became a doctor to follow in her heroine's medical footsteps. And she knew if Kakashi had driven Tsunade to do something like this, then he deserved it, but she also couldn't turn the Cyclops away when he showed up at the hospital, damn Hippocratic Oath. But just because she couldn't ignore him, didn't mean she couldn't be happy he was hurt, she just couldn't let it show she was happy, which was pretty hard.

"Well, that is the bad news. You see, one of your injuries was much too severe for us to heal." At this point, Kakashi had grown very pale, and she had to really work to hide her grin, "Your testicles were damaged beyond repair, so we were forced to…amputate."

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^------------------

Back in Naruto's room, after Ino closed the door, a few seconds passed before they all heard a very high pitched voice scream, "NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

When the voice passed, they were all looking for the source, "What in the world was that?" Kurenai wondered aloud.

Pakkun seemed to almost grin when he answered, "I think Kakashi just found out that Tsunade got him fixed."

Anko grinned madly at this, even Kurenai allowed herself a smirk at the new, but Naruto, never having had a pet, was still confused, "If obaa-chan healed him, then why is he screaming?"

Pakkun sighed, "No, Naruto, she didn't fix him up, she got him fixed."

Naruto still wasn't getting it, so Anko decided to help, "Naruto, what he's trying to say is that she crushed his danglies like grapes," the statement causing Naruto to unconsciously cross his legs, and also getting a giggle from someone else.

That giggle shook Kurenai to her soul. She knew that kind of giggle, a dark, soul chilling giggle, the kind Anko had after a rich, full day torturing prisoners. But it was worse, because she could even see Anko shiver a bit at the sound.

And it was coming from Hinata.

Hinata stopped giggling after a moment, and came out of her own little world of inflicting pain on a certain pair of Sharingan users to notice everyone staring at her, "G-gomen, I w-was j-just thinking of s-s-something funny, " she stuttered out as she pulled her head into her jacket.

Anko smiled, _now THIS is a kunoichi with some promise, but she's already Nai-chan's student, _"You're right, it is pretty funny. Mind you, though, he probably didn't use them anyway, I'd bet those books of his are the closest he's gotten to a real woman in years."

Naruto, getting a bit uncomfortable with this conversation, decided to address the elephant in the room, "Pakkun, who's your friend?"

Pakkun was about to speak, but the other dog cut him off in a distinctly feminine voice, "My name is Katsumi, servant and assistant to Fenrir-sama, over boss of the canine contracts and head councilman of the 7 Tsu No Idai Na Ookami no Zoku (7 great wolf tribes)."

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "So what are you doing here?"

"I have been sent to ascertain the situation with Hatake, and to make sure he is deserving of a full and permanent expulsion and banishment."

Pakkun explained, "You see, Naruto, our contract is a bit different than most other contracts. We do have a master contract that would allow someone to summon any of us, but that hasn't been signed in a very long time, and we also have pack contracts, that allow someone to summon any canine from one of the seven specific tribes, these aren't signed very often, what people like Hatake sign are called personal contracts, that allow a ninja to summon only a set few canines and, at times, a contract writer if they feel someone is worth getting one of their own."

Katsumi continued, "However, as I am sure you learned with the toads, signing a contract doesn't mean those you summon will be automatically obedient pets, one must prove themselves to earn a summons respect and assistance."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, the first time I managed to summon an actual toad, it was Gamabunta, and I ended up having to stay on his head while he jumped all over the place to prove myself, and I passed out from exhaustion when it was over."

The Doberman nodded, "Yes, well in the case of a personal contract like Hatake signed, one must simply prove themselves to the canines of the contract, for a pack contract, you have to do so for that whole tribe, and to sign the master contract, you would have to prove yourself worthy before Fenrir-sama himself. However," she continued, "what I am here for is not the signing of contracts, but their nullification. It is simple enough to void a personal contract; all that is needed is for the canines involved in it must simply agree to do so. But what Pakkun seeks is not just the nullification, but banishment and expulsion, which is a very serious request among our kind that requires a meeting of the council. What Pakkun wants is for Hatake and his apparently now non-existent descendants to be forever unable to sign any sort of contract with any of the tribes, and to do such a thing is a very grave undertaking, so I was sent on Fenrir-sama's behalf to see you, Uzumaki Naruto, both for the reasons of Hatake's banishment and because, after Pukkun's descriptions of you, he has taken somewhat of an interest in you, and wishes me to verify a few things about you."

"What sort of things," Naruto asked cautiously, hoping that the sword carrying canine wouldn't ask about the fox in front of Hinata.

"Is it true that you are the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune?" Damn, no such luck.

Naruto's eyes shot to Hinata, who looked confused, "A-ano, Katsumi-san, what is a Jinchuuriki? And I-I thought that K-K-Kyuubi was killed by the Y-Yondaime."

Kurenai and Anko looked to Naruto, who nodded solemnly, before Kurenai kneeled to be eye level with her student, "Hinata, what you are about to learn is an S-Class secret, telling people who don't already know it without Naruto's permission is punishable by either life imprisonment or death, do you understand this?" Hinata was shaken, but nodded slowly. Kurenai looked to Naruto again, who simply started petting Tonton again, before she continued, "What you were taught in the academy was a lie, when Yondaime-sama confronted Kyuubi, he was unable to win. So, instead, he used a combination of Fuuin jutsu to seal the fox inside a newborn baby, born that day of October tenth. You and the rest of your generation weren't told this because when the village learned of it, most called for the baby's execution, despite the fact he was barely a day old. After that, Sandaime-sama made a law that anyone who spoke of the child's condition would be punished severely, hoping that it would allow the child to have a normal life with those his own age…"  
"But that plan was shot to hell," Anko picked up, "Old man Sandaime was way too trusting with those bastards, the adults hated the kid, called him names, beat him within an inch of his life, starved him, poisoned him, overcharged him for the most basic necessities, and their hatred tended to rub off on their brats, and the kid was unable to make any friends. The poor kid's life was hell, but he never let it show when others were around, he always smiled and took it, even though he didn't know why it was happening."

Hinata was on the verge of tears when she looked at Naruto, "I-i-it w-was, I m-mean, N-N-Naruto-k-kun, were y-y-you?" Naruto waited a minute before nodding slowly. Before anyone knew it, she had run across the room, jumped in his bed and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his bandaged chest and crying. Tonton was barely able to jump out f the way of being crushed between the teens.

Hinata sobbed incoherently into the blonde's chest. Naruto, not knowing what else to do, returned her embrace, softly rubbing her back, "It's okay, Hinata," he whispered.

Katsumi bowed her head, "I apologize, Uzumaki-san, I was unaware it was a secret."

"I understand, Katsumi," Naruto said, still holding Hinata. Tonton had jumped back onto the bed, and started nuzzling against the crying girl, trying to help comfort her.

"Was what she said about your treatment true?"

Hinata's sobs picked up a bit when he nodded.

"Then why do you stay? If you are treated so poorly, why do you put up with them?"

Naruto smiled sadly, looking to the older women, then to Hinata, "Because this is my home, and I have people here who are precious to me, people I want to protect, like Tsunade-baa-chan, Sakura-chan, Shizune-nee-chan, Ayame-nee-chan, Iruka-sensei, and Teuchi-ojii-san. And some new ones like Tsume-san, Anko-nee-chan, Ino and Hinata-chan." He didn't notice that along with her slowing sobs, she turned red at the suffix he had used.

The Doberman seemed surprised, "So to help a handful of loved ones, you'd subject yourself to hell like that?"

Naruto didn't even need to think about it, "Of course, they're important to me, and I would do anything to keep them safe."

_To endure such torture simply to protect a few, this is indeed an interesting kit, Fenrir-sama, _Katsumi smiled, "Thank you, Uzumaki-san, I think that's all I need to know." And she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Pakkun turned to the boy, "I had better get going too, take care Naruto," and he disappeared the same way.

With the dogs gone, Naruto turned his attention to the young woman who was hugging him, "Are you feeling better, Hinata-chan?" Hinata didn't answer, she was had stopped crying and was enjoying the embrace she was sharing with the blonde, "Hinata-chan?"

She shook herself from her fantasies, turning bright red, "H-hai, Naruto-kun."

"Hey, are you alright, you look like you're running a fever," he placed his hand on her forehead, at which point steam almost seemed to shoot from her ears as she fainted, "HINATA-CHAN! Hinata, are you okay?"

Anko had to fight back a laugh, "She's fine she just fainted."

Naruto sighed with relief, "Maybe she should wait until baa-chan gets back so she can get a check up, whatever's wrong with her, I'd hate for Hinata to pass out on a mission and get hurt."

Anko just stared in astonishment, _He can't possibly be THAT dense, can he?_ "Naruto, can I ask you a question," he looked up from the unconscious girl, "do you know if she passes out around anybody else?" Naruto shook his head, "Does she Nai-chan?"

_I was hoping Hinata would come out with this herself, oh well, _Kurenai sighed, "No, she only faints around Naruto."

They saw Naruto begin to think, he looked to Hinata, then to Anko, then Kurenai, then back to Hinata.

_Come on, kid, figure it out, _Anko thought

After a moment, Naruto spoke in an almost fearful tone, "Kurenai-sensei is Hinata… afraid of me?"

Both jonin face planted.

Anko snapped, "DAMNIT GAKI, SHE LOVES YOU!"

Naruto seemed to think for a few seconds.

Then he passed out.

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^--------------------

Tsunade arrived in the council chamber just in time to start the meeting. In attendance were the advisors, Danzo, clan heads of the Sarutobi, Inuzuka, Hyuga, Yaminaka, Nara, Akimichi, Aburame and Kurama clans, as well as representatives of a couple lesser clans, the civilian part of the council, which was made up of a few well-off merchants and finally Tsunade in her capacity as both Hokage and last member of the Senju clan.

"Thank you all for coming today," Koharu said, "we have convened the council today for the purpose of determining the punishment to be handed down to Uchiha Sasuke. For those of you who do not know, a few days ago, genin Haruno Sakura saw Uchiha Sasuke as he left to defect to Otogakure, with the assistance of 4 jonin level Oto-nin, and she was rendered unconscious by Uchiha, a few hours later, when this news was reported, a retrieval team was sent out, headed by chunin Nara Shikamaru. As the retrieval team attempted to close in on the target, the enemy was engaged by tokubetsu jonin Raido Namiashi and Genma Shiranui, both of whom were defeated, but survived. Shortly afterwards, as the enemy rested from the battle, the retrieval team caught up with the target, but were captured by a chakra-draining earth jutsu. The Oto-nin who enacted this jutsu stayed to finish the job as the others continued. The retrieval team was able to escape the jutsu, and continued ahead as genin Akimichi Choji chose to continue fighting the opponent. Genin Akimichi won, but was left in critical condition from use of his family food pills." Choza Akimichi looked to the ground, thankful his son was able to survive what should have been a death sentence.

"The rest of the team caught up with the target, and used a henge of the fallen Oto-nin to attempt to fool the others, but were found out due to an unknown personality quirk of the fallen Nin. Again, one Oto-nin stayed behind to fight as the others continued, this one specialized in the use of a chakra based spider thread and a spider summon. This enemy was fought by Genin Hyuga Neji, whose gentle fist style was thought to be best to combat this enemy. Genin Hyuga was also victorious, but left in critical condition from a projectile hole in his torso, his injuries were thought to be second most severe among the retrieval team."

"Again the remains of the team caught up with the enemy, Genin Inuzuka Kiba was engaged in battle against one of the Oto-nin after the two of them fell into a ravine, Genin Inuzuka was assisted in his victory by Subaku no Kankuro. Nara Shikamaru was likewise helped to victory by Subaku no Temari, their opponent survived, with severe injuries to the lower half of her body, but was collected by ANBU and has been interrogated, and is currently recovering until she can be imprisoned, but she poses a minimal flight risk due to her injuries. Genin Uzumaki Naruto continued the pursuit of another Oto-nin who had just arrived, when genin Uzumaki engaged the final Oto-nin, Uchiha Sasuke continued towards the border. Genin Uzumaki's opponent was then engaged in combat by genin Rock Lee, who had just arrived, as Uzumaki went after Uchiha. Genin Rock lee was helped to victory by Subaku no Gaara. We have no official report on the battle between Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, as the former was so egregiously injured that he has been unconscious since, and the latter has been kept unconscious to await punishment for his crimes, but both were found unconscious in the valley of the end, and were returned to the village." The aged Kunoichi waved a hand to an ANBU, who began to pass out papers, "What you are being given is a copy of the full report, minus the statement of genin Uzumaki, for the aforementioned reasons."

"Pardon, Koharu-san," a civilian member spoke after a quick glance at the documents, "there's a mention of a barrel of some sort that contained Uchiha Sasuke, I see no reason we should punish him if he was kidnapped like that."

Inoichi answered with a small scowl, "I was the one who interrogated the captured sound kunoichi, and according to her memories, the container is part of a ritual used to allow a curse mark to advance to a second stage. The curse seals administered by Orochimaru, apparently, have a second form the increases the power of the afflicted, but it warps their form into some sort of monstrosity, and the side effects when it recedes are painful. Aside from that, the ritual is needed because when the mark grows to the next stage, it tends to kill the ninja."

Another civilian spoke up, "Then Sasuke's life was at risk. Can we really blame a child like him for fearing for his life?"

"Would you bastards read the damn report before you ask stupid questions!" Tsume growled, "Besides the fact that the seal only reaches the next stage by taking a specific drug, when the ritual was over, the little bastard still tried to run to the snake traitor. And don't refer to him like he's some helpless baby, he's a leaf ninja and should be ready to die rather than betray the village! But he still left just to get power, I say we burn the punk to ashes, scatter them in some a septic tank and be done with his bastard clan."

"Please, Tsume-san, that is much too extreme," Homura said, trying to calm the feral woman, "these are extenuating circumstances. The Sharingan is a valuable asset to the village, and we need Sasuke, he was simply misguided, and did something rash. I believe that if we show him that he can get strong here, Sasuke can become a strong and loyal leaf ninja."

"Until there is no more you can give him," the monotone voice of Shibi Aburame came, "Uchiha-san's purpose is to kill his elder brother, as he has stated many times. He pursues that goal with no other care in mind, and is willing to do anything, including betray this village and kill his own teammate, to achieve it. You suggest we let this betrayal pass like nothing, and give him whatever he wants without punishment?" His bugs beginning to buzz as he finished speaking.

"Of course not, Aburame-san, I simply mean that we should take certain things into account. I move that Uchiha Sasuke Be put on probation, he will not be allowed to leave the village for a year, he will be constantly monitored, and financial restitutions will be paid to the injured nin from the Uchiha family accounts, will all those in favor please raise your hands."

The entire civilian council, Danzo, Homura and three of the lower clan representatives raised their hand. Homura nodded, "It is decided at a vote of 17 to 11, Uchiha Sasuke is now on probation."

"YOU BASTARDS ARE REALLY GONNA LET THE TRAITOROUS BASTARD OFF WITH A SLAP ON THE WRISTS LIKE THAT!?" Tsume roared.

"Calm yourself, Inuzuka," Danzo said in a tone that seemed to add 'before I make you, bitch', "we still have one more piece of business to attend to, the fate of gennin Uzumaki Naruto."

"To my knowledge, Uzumaki-san completed his mission quite well, considering the fact he and his team were against such overwhelming odds," Shibi stated, "what is there to discuss?"

"The medic teams searching the area reported sensing the chakra of the Kyuubi as they closed in on the valley of the end, and the residue of the chakra could be found there as well." Homura stated, "I fear that the seal is weakening, and the boy will become a threat to the village, and move for the execution of Uzumaki Naruto."

The shinobi on the council erupted in screams against the very idea as the civilians just smirked. Tsunade was yelling the loudest, "ARE YOU FUCKING SENILE!?" This outburst silenced the room, "You want to reward him for a successful mission by killing him?"

One of the civilians made the mistake of answering, "He's a threat to our village and is nothing but trouble, and it's high time we did away with the de…" The man was unable to finish the sentence as he was pinned to the ground by an angry Kuromaru.

"If you call that pup a demon again," the dog growled, "I will tear out your throat and show it to your children." The man nodded and the hound returned to his partner's side.

"I believe an execution may be a bit…overzealous." Danzo said, after all, what good is a dead weapon, "I move that Genin Uzumaki Naruto be banished from Konohagakure until such a time that it can be shown that he is not a threat." In reality, Danzo planned to have the boy abducted by ROOT members once he was a safe distance from the village. "All those in favor please raise your hands." The results were nearly the same as before, except two of the lesser known clan representatives were against it, "Then it is decided, at a vote of 15 to 13, Uzumaki Naruto is to be banished from this village until he can prove he is no longer a threat to our village's security. He has the usual seven days to get his affairs in order"

Before anyone could react, Koharu stood, "I am ashamed of you," she said to everyone surprise, especially Danzo and Homura, "That you would continue to pamper a spoiled and traitorous brat as you throw that poor boy out of the village he loves, and away from the few who care about him. My former sensei and teammate must be spinning in their graves." The aged kunoichi rose and left the now silent room, an almost to tears hokage, and several clan heads trying to think of how they could help the child who would, in a week's time, be thrown from the only life he ever knew.

No one even noticed a small, black Chihuahua hiding in the shadows, as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^----------------------

Far, far away, in a very, very large tipi, a group was meeting. Gathered around a small central fire, several dogs, wolves, jackals, even a couple raccoon dogs and foxes, were separated into seven groups, sitting on large pillows and blankets, the colors of which were different for each of the seven groups. The flap of the tipi opened as Katsumi entered, walked across the tent, and sat down in front of an enormous, grey furred and battle scarred wolf with armor strapped on his shoulders and a large sword on each side, who was lying opposite of the entrance. Katsumi bowed and whispered a few things that not even the others canine's incredible hearing could detect before moving to the large wolfs side.

The large wolf stood and spoke in a booming voice, "I thank you, those of the council of seven, for answering my call so quickly. My purpose in calling you here is to deal with one of the most severe things we can do in respect to the humans we deal with, the permanent expulsion and banishment of a summoner, specifically one Hatake Kakashi. This request was made by Pakkun of the Plains tribe, and investigated by my personal assistant, Katsumi, originally of the Plains tribe. Before the reasons behind Pakkun's request can be discussed, some background is needed." The large wolf nodded to the Doberman, who stepped to the center of the tent, next to the small fire.

"Thank you, Fenrir-sama, and to you council members and your retainers, and I apologize if this seems long, but proper information is needed. I am here to tell you two stories of two very different young humans. This is needed to inform you of why Hatake's actions have put him in such poor graces with those of his personal contract that they would ask for such an extreme action."

"The first story begins nearly thirteen years ago at the human village of Konohagakure, when the Bijuu, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, attacked. The leader of the village at the time, Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, rode atop the boss toad Gamabunta to combat the fox, and used a combination of seals, at the cost of his own life, to lock the great beast away within a newborn human pup, one Uzumaki Naruto. Namikaze's wish, apparently, was for the child to be seen as a hero for restraining the fox from destroying the village, but that did not come to be. As soon as those of the village learned what had happened, many called for the pups death, and a few attempted to perform the deed themselves, but were stopped by ninja at the command of Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had retaken his place as Hokage at the death of his successor. Sarutobi put in place a law that none were allowed, on pain of death, to speak of the boys burden, apparently in hopes that those who did not know of it, more specifically those of the boys age, would be good to him, but that did not happen. As the pup grew, he was pushed towards death many times, though poisonings, beatings, failed assassinations and malnutrition, and was mentally abused with insults, abandonment and hateful treatment by the adults. And, as we know with humans, "monkey see, monkey do". The children began to mistreat the boy as their parents had, and with none of the repercussions they would have with another child. Uzumaki-san grew up most of his life alone, with no pack to truly call his own, and any attempt to adopt him was thwarted by those who hated him. Even though he was so hated, the boy pushed through and never let them see the hate get to him."

The leader of the Tundra tribe, a Saint Bernard named Morana, whose maternal instincts were flaring to life with a vengeance, spoke, "Where were Uzumaki-kun's parents for all this? Did they abandon their own pup because of such stupidity?"

Katsumi shook her head, "As far as I was able to find from searching the records, the only other Uzumaki to have lived in the village, one Uzumaki Kushina, passed away during the attack, I suspect it could have been complication from childbirth. As for the father, I was unable to find the official copy of the birth certificate, only redacted copies with the paternal name blocked out, and do not know who the father is. I would guess that this means that the father was a ninja of high standing, who is either dead or on a long lasting, undercover mission. But if I may offer a my opinion," she asked to her boss, who nodded, "I hope this man is dead, or I will kill him myself for abandoning his son to those beasts, even if it cost me my position in the tribe, or even my own life." This statement shocked all those in attendance, with the exception of Fenrir, who was proud of his right hands words, since he had been told her thoughts on the human boy, "I met Uzumaki-san, and believe him to be one of the kindest and purest hearts I have met, canine, human or otherwise."

"What kept the boy in the village, then?" inquired the Savannah tribe leader. He was a large Black-backed Jackal who was named of Guafi, "If he was treated so poorly, then surely at some point in thirteen years, he must have had a chance to get away."

"It might have been possible," Katsumi admitted, "and I asked him myself why he stayed loyal to the village. He said it was because that village is his home, and he wishes to protect the few who do care for him, no matter what he has to go through to do so." Surprise was evident on many muzzled faces across the room, such an answer from a human youth, and loyalty to a village that itself had all but abandoned him, many of the tribal leaders and their retainers where not sure they would be able to give that answer after that sort of life.

"I think we can admire the Uzumaki pups loyalty later," Fenrir said, "I believe you have another story to tell, Katsumi."

"Yes, Fenrir-sama, this story is likely to be shorter, a few years ago, there was a clan known as the Uchiha, within Konoha, the leader of that clan, Uchiha Fugaku, had two sons. The elder son, Uchiha Itachi, was considered a prodigy; he became a chunin at the age of ten and an ANBU captain at the age of thirteen. The younger son, Uchiha Sasuke, lived in his brother's shadow, and wanted to surpass him. Then, about five years ago, Uchiha Itachi attacked and killed his entire clan, save for his younger brother, before leaving the village. Over the following years, Uchiha Sasuke was spoiled to keep him happy and loyal to the village, as the last true Uchiha, the village wanted to keep him there for the power they felt the Sharingan represented, but he simply sought the power needed to kill his older brother and nothing else, no matter the cost. And this brings us to the reason behind Pakkun-san's request, which has been backed by Fenrir-sama," she turned to a darker part of the tent, from which the pug stepped into the firelight, "I think it would be best for him to explain."

Pakkun took his place in the center of the council, "A few days ago, Uchiha Sasuke attempted to defect from the village to join a known enemy known as Orochimaru, in order to gain the power needed to kill Itachi." A few in the room growled, if there was any constant between the tribes, it was a fierce belief in loyalty above all things, "He was assisted by four enemy nin. A retrieval team, which included Naruto, was sent out to return Sasuke to the village, I won't bore you with the extensive details on the mission, but it ended with Naruto and Sasuke fighting at a place called the valley of the end. Hatake summoned me and the others when he found out and had us fan out to find to find them. I was with Hatake when we found the boys, both were unconscious, but I saw a much larger amount of blood coming out of Naruto, and found he had a large hole in his gut, one that the Kyuubi didn't even seem able to heal. When I tried to get Hatake to help the kid, he was already getting ready to leave with the Uchiha, not even glancing to check on Naruto, he left him to die." The room suddenly got noticeably colder, the center fire even started to visibly die down, pure hatred rolling off nearly everyone in the room, only those more in control of themselves were able to reign in their emotion, but just barely.

Guafi had another question, "Uzumaki had the power of the fox behind him; is the Uchiha really that strong."

Pakkun shook his head, "Although I wasn't there as they fought I believe he used a curse seal given to him by Orochimaru that allowed him to draw on an unnatural power."

"But still the snake is able to make someone strong enough to combat the Kyuubi's power?"

A bat-eared fox behind Fenrir stepped forward, "If I may, Fenrir-sama," the wolf nodded, "To answer your question, Guafi-sama, besides the fact that I believe the boy's body can't yet handle the full power of the Kyuubi, I was asked by Katsumi-taichou to keep guard outside of Uzumaki-san's window, and I heard him tell his guard that he had held back to keep from killing the Uchiha, because of a promise he made to someone called Sakura to bring the traitor back to the village."

Pakkun nodded, "That sounds possible, Naruto cares about Sakura, and he even fought against the fully manifested Ichibi no Tanuki and won to save her life in the invasion a few months ago."

Morana seemed to be the angriest at that moment, she had never even met the pup, but after what she had heard of the boy, she felt the strong need to tear out the Uchiha's throat, and let her tribe loose on any others who threatened him, "Fenrir-sama, I would like to ask to be allowed permission to find this Uchiha and…show him the err of his ways," she said that in a voice so calm that it sent a shiver up even the old wolfs spine, he had seen her like this only once before, when a lone bear had wondered onto her tribes land and attacked a pup. The pup lived, but had lost a hind leg, the bear was not so lucky. Morana had found him first, and by the time the others in her party had caught up, all that was left of the bear was a bit of fur, a few bones and a bloody smear in the snow. Morana was found shortly after washing off in a nearby hot spring.

"As interesting as that would be, Morana, I am afraid that I won't allow that for now. As much as I want to do the same, such an act would probably result in a war with that village, I don't mind the thought of tearing out a few of those dumb animals hearts, I think it would put us against Uzumaki, and I don't think you want to have to hurt him, do you?"

"Unfortunately, sir, that won't be a problem," a small pitch black Chihuahua entered the room.

Katsumi turned to the small dog, "Usha, report."

The dog bowed, "Katsumi-taichou, as you requested, I hid away in the Konoha village council room. The civilian council, a few of the shinobi and two of the elders, were able to overrule the hokage and the majority of the clan heads. The fools have put the Uchiha on probation, he is not allowed to leave the village for a year and has to pay monetary restitutions to the families of those injured by his treason, but they still plan on training him to keep him happy, on the other hand," she sighed, "They have decided that, after a week to get his affairs in order, Uzumaki Naruto is to be banished from the village."

Everyone in attendance felt a sudden extreme pressure on their chest as the elder wolf's anger finally got the better of him, several retainers passed out from it but Morana seemed to match it with her own. When he got back to himself, the old wolf growled to the miniature pooch, "On what grounds do they banish such a pup?"

Usha took a moment to recover before answering, "They claim his use of the Kyuubi's power is a sign of the seal weakening, and he is becoming a danger to the village. They were going to execute him, but one elder advised against it, I suspect he has plans for his own benefit."

Fenrir was deep in thought for a few moments, "Even with this new development, we will not attack Konoha yet, I think we will wait until Uzumaki is banished, and get his opinion. If the pup has no problem with the attack, then I will allow your tribe its pound of flesh, Morana, but if he asks us not to, we will not. Now before we adjourn this meeting, are there any against the permanent expulsion and banishment of Hatake Kakashi and his line?"

There was none.

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^-----

As the rest of the council left, Morana approached her leader. "Fenrir-sama, I would like to request to be with the group that will meet with Uzumaki-kun."

"I know you have always been a protective mother, Morana, but you seem awfully protective of this human pup you have never met."

"I know, Fenrir-sama," she bowed her head a bit, "I don't know what it is, but I feel a strange pull to him, I feel like… I feel like I need to protect him like my own pup."

The large wolf chuckled, "I understand, Morana, I admit I am rather interested in this kit as well. I will allow it if you promise not to attack anyone without my permission. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Fenrir-sama."

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^---------

"So," Ino said, "Your dad is the boss of all the toad summons." They had been walking, or hopping for Gamakichi, for a while, the girl had explained what she knew for certain about the retrieval mission, and that had left Gamakichi quietly fuming, but Ino felt the need to make some conversation when she started to notice that the neighborhood they were moving into wasn't the kind she wouldn't like to be in after dark.

"Yup, pretty much. But he still listens to Ma and Pa."

"He listens to himself?"

"No, no, Ma and Pa toad are the elders of the mountain, everyone calls the that, and even pops listens to them." The orange toad explained as he led the girl up some stairs and to a door.

Ino realized something, "Oh crap, we don't have the key."

"No worries, sis," Gamakichi looked like he was focusing for a moment, then extended his tongue out of his mouth, a key stuck to the end of it, "here ya go."

Ino gingerly picked the key off the tongue and looked at it for a moment, "Why did you swallow a key to Naruto's apartment?" she asked as she opened the door, looking for the window box.

"I didn't exactly swallow it, some of us toads can use a time/space type of jutsu to use our bodies as a sort of pocket world to store stuff. I know this guy who is smaller than me, but he could probably fit a small house in him. And Aniki gave all of us copies of the key so we would feel welcome in his home."

"What do you mean 'all of us'?" the blonde asked when she finally found the plants. It was a small assortment, nothing exotic, but they seemed well taken care of.

"Me, my brother and the other toads my age, sometimes when he got bored, aniki would summon me and Tatsu, sometimes to train, sometimes to play, and although he probably won't admit it, sometimes when he got lonely we would just hang out. One day, when the three of us were messing around, I asked him to try summoning some more toads, some of my friends back home heard me and Tatsu talking with pops about aniki, and they wanted to meet him. Naruto is friends with almost every toad my age back home, but he has to be careful around Pakwa." He said with a snicker as he leapt on a counter and grabbed a couple bags of chips.

Ino was confused, "Why, who's Pakwa?"

The toad started laughing a bit before explaining, "Pakwa is this girl back home who has a crush on Naruto."

Ino had a bit of a laugh as she left and locked the door before tossing the key to the toad, who snapped it out of the air like a fly. They continued on their way back in silence for a while, but when she saw where they would have to split for her to head home and he to the hospital, Ino asked, "He means a lot to you toads, doesn't he?"

"Of course, he is like family to me, Tatsu and pops, and most everyone else back home; I've even heard Ma and Pa tellin pops that they want to meet him too. He seems a bit sad sometimes, but he's a lot of fun too."

"Sad? Anytime I see him, he's yelling and smiling like an idiot, without a care in the world."

The orange toad stopped, and Ino after, "Let me ask you somethin, sis, have you ever noticed some of the older people in your village act strange around aniki? Some who seem like they don't like him for any good reason?"

"Not really, I didn't really spend much time with him when we were younger. Did Naruto do something? His pranks didn't seem THAT serious."

The toad shook his head, then continued on his way, "No, he didn't do anything, they dislike him for something he didn't do and had no control over. Try going around as him someday and you'll see what I mean. It took me a while to notice the way people looked at him, but when I asked pops, he told me after swearing me to secrecy; he said it is Naruto's secret to share, so I can't tell you if you don't know. But I can say this, many hate him for things that happened when he was born, but," he said with a sigh, "anywhere else, aniki would be a hero for some of the things he has done in the last year, he always seems to pull a victory out of nowhere at the last minute, like when he helped save my butt from that sand freak."

_Sand Freak?_ "You mean Gaara, the red head with the gourd on his back?" he nodded in mid-hop, "I always thought Sasuke did that."

Kichi snorted, "When aniki summoned me, that guy was almost down for the count, it was Naruto, with some help from pops, who kicked sand-boys ass."

"Well, I better get these home before my parents wonder where I am. Thanks for your help, Gamakichi."

"No prob, sis," Ino started to walk away when he added, "you know, aniki is lucky to have a girlfriend like you," then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Ino was stunned for a moment, and then she yelled, "NARUTO ISN'T MY BOYFREIND!" but the entire way home her mind was plagued by the possibilities, and images of a blonde wedding. She couldn't help but think, _It feels weird…but it feels right._

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^--------------------------

Naruto started to come to, and found he was staring into a pair of black eyes.

"Oink?"

"AHH!" Naruto bolted up, almost catapulting the small pig out of the bed, but she was caught by Kurenai, who was standing at the foot of the bed with a grinning Anko and a bright red Hinata.

"You alright, gaki? You were out for almost fifteen minutes."

"Agh, what happened? I remember Hinata-chan fainted, and then Anko-chan…said…" Naruto then he turned red enough to match his admirer as her turned to face her, "Do…do you really love me Hinata?"

Hinata gulped and took a deep breath, "H-hai, Naruto-kun, I have for a while now. When I was little, after my mother p-passed, my father started to become cold and distant, he started to push me hard to be strong, but I kept falling short of his e-expectations, and he became more distant, and I was almost ready to give up, but whenever I was, I w-would always seem to find you. You were always pushing yourself, always trying and never giving up, no matter what happened to you. I wanted to be like you, to ch-chase after you, then, I just wanted to walk with you, to b-be with you. Your smile, your spirit, they changed my life, they saved me." She walked to his side and took his hand in hers, "I love you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes watered up a bit, "I really don't know what to say, Hinata-chan. Nobody ever said anything like that before, no one has ever said they love me, I'm not even entirely sure it means, or what love is. I am not sure I can give you an honest response, I know I care about you like I do Sakura-chan and Anko-chan, but I don't know if I feel love." he looked up to see a sad look on the girls face and panicked a bit, seeing her like that made him hurt as well, "I'm not saying I don't, Hinata-chan, I just need some time to think. Please, this is all new to me."

The heiress's expression brightened a little, "I thi-think I understand, N-Naruto-kun, take y-your time. I n-need to get home before d-dark, w-would you m-mind if I come back tomorrow?"

Naruto cracked a smile, "Please, we can talk some more, I just realized," he took up a thoughtful expression, "you seem to know a lot about me, but I don't know much about you, it's like you've followed me around or something, but I don't think you would do something like that."

Hinata inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, "Then I w-will be back tomorrow afternoon. S-sleep well, Naruto-kun." And she left with her sensei.

Naruto looked outside to see the sun almost completely below the horizon. Letting out a small yawn, he laid back and prepared for sleep when he felt a rustle in the bed, and the mattress sink a bit beside him, he opened his eyes to find Anko had crawled in with him and laid down as well, her eyes closed, "Anko-chan, what are you doing?"

"I still have to guard you through the night, and I ain't sleeping in a chair, or I'll wake up stiff as a board. Besides," she wrapped her arms around him, "it is easier to protect you like this. Now before you say anything, I am NOT moving, so just go to sleep before I inject you with a sedative."

The threat standing, Naruto shut his mouth, but noted as he fell asleep, _This is kinda nice._

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^--------------------

Tenten was picking up and re-sealing her weapons as night closed in. Normally she would have stopped training long ago, but with both of her teammates in the hospital, she wasn't worn out as quickly.

"Tenten-senpai!"

Tenten looked up to see the Haruno girl. The brunette wasn't sure how to feel about Sakura, one of her teammates was the reason Tenten's were in the hospital, on the other hand, the girl's blonde teammate was not only the reason the retrieval succeeded, but the reason that Lee could be a ninja at all since he brought Tenten's idol, Tsunade, back to the village. And, apparently, the Godaime was close to the cute blonde. _Wait, Cute!? Where the hell did that come from?_

"Is something wrong, Sakura?" Tenten knew something was up, it looked like the pinkette had been crying, and there was some blood drying on her hand.

Sakura shook her head, "No, I'm fine, I just wanted to ask you something. I know with Lee and Neji in the hospital, you won't really have any missions for a little while, right?" the bun-haired girl nodded, "Well…I've been thinking a bit, and I am not as strong as I should have been. If I was stronger, Naruto might not have gotten hurt, and I might have been able to stop Sasuke. I just wanted to ask for your help, would you help me with weapons training?"

Tenten surveyed the other kunoichi for a few moments, she always supported a kunoichi who wanted to get stronger, and the pink-haired girl seemed more worried about the blonde teammate than the traitor, "Have you thought of what weapon?" Sakura looked at her quizzically, "Even I know you can't rely on shuriken and kunai for everything." She pulled out a blank scroll and wrote for a few minutes, before rolling it up and handing it to Sakura, "this is a list of melee weapons I am at least proficient with. Look it over tonight and decide which you want to start with. Be here at six in the morning, and don't be late. If you are, I WILL use you for target practice, understood?"

Sakura nodded vigorously, "Thank you, Tenten-senpai." A kunai whizzed by her head, taking off a few hairs before hitting a tree behind her.

"That will be sensei from now on, okay?" Sakura nodded, "Now go home and get some rest, you'll need it for tomorrow." And the pair parted ways, Tenten excited to have her first student, and Sakura glad to have someone who might actually teach her something seriously.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^-----------------------

Inoichi returned home to find his daughter quietly tending to a planter he hadn't seen before, a distant look on her face.

Ino looked up to her father, "Hey, daddy, rough day?"

"More than you know, princess. What are you doing?"

"Hm, oh, this is Naruto's, apparently he likes gardening too, and when I saw him in the hospital, he asked me to take care of them for him." She saw her father flinch a bit at Naruto's mention, "Is something wrong? Did something happen?"

"Princess, is Naruto a friend of yours?"

Ino was a bit confused by the question, "Well, I never really cared much about him before, but after all that's happened, I kinda want to get to know him better, he seems like a nice guy, and Choji and Shikamaru might have died on that mission without him. I hear he almost did die to make the mission succeed. I guess I never noticed it when I was chasing Sasuke, but he's not as bad as a lot of people seem to think, just loud and annoying sometimes, and I know I can be as loud as he can." Ino had realized since splitting off from Gamakichi, a lot of people had treated Naruto like something was wrong, and she decided to try the toad's suggestion on the way home. She was surprised at the treatment she received as Naruto, she could feel the glares of hate, she could hear whispers of 'monster' and 'demon' under peoples breath, she had even had a couple of drunks start chasing her, throwing empty sake bottles at her until she got away. _Does he go through that every day_? "Why do you ask, Daddy?"

The elder Yaminaka sighed and sat down, "I am afraid I have bad news then, in seven days, Uzumaki Naruto is to be officially banished from the village."

Ino exploded, "WHAT!!! HIS MISSION WAS A SUCCESS, WHY THE HELL ARE THEY GIVING HIM THE BOOT? WHAT IN THE NAME OF KAMI WOULD HAVE THEM KICK HIM OUT AFTER ALL HE'S DONE? HE BEAT GAARA, HE BEAT SASUKE-TEME, HE BEAT THE HYUGA PRODIGY, HE BROUGHT TSUNADE-SAMA BACK, AND NOW THEY WANT TO KICK HIM TO THE CURB!?"

"Yes, I understand your anger, and most of the clan heads, myself included, were against it, but the civilian council and a couple clan heads outnumbered us, they wouldn't even properly punish the Uchiha." He realized too late what effect this last slip might have on his daughter.

Ino didn't yell, she didn't even raise her voice at this, she spoke in a deathly calm voice, one that seemed to suck the heat out of the room, "What do you mean 'properly punish'? What did or didn't they do?"

Inoichi sighed, there was now no way to stop the coming storm, "Two of the elders, as well as the civilian council and a few clan heads, in their infinite wisdom, decided to preserve the Sharingan in the village, they want to keep the Uchiha happy and will put him on probation, he won't be able to leave the village for a year, and during that time they plan to train him to keep him happy."

Ino's explosion was so great that the house seemed to shake before she even opened her mouth, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THEM, THEY BOOT OUT POSSIBLY THE MOST LOYAL NINJA EVER, BUT THEY LET A TRAITOR GET AWAY WITH A SLAP ON THE WRISTS AND A 'DON'T DO IT AGAIN' BEFORE THEY CONTINUE TO SPOIL THE BASTARD ROTTEN!?"

"INO, CALM DOWN!" Ino was quieted by her father, "Yes, I know it's wrong, yes, I know Naruto is a good kid, but because of…certain events, not everyone sees him in that light."

Ino thought back to what the orange toad had said and what she had gone though earlier, "Daddy, why do they hate Naruto so much? On my way home, I used a henge to look like him, and the people, they were," tears welled up in her eyes, "does he really have to live through that every day? Why, how does he keep smiling like that? Why is he even here if that is how they treat him?"

Inoichi hugged his daughter, "Princess…I can't tell you why they hate him, because that is not my secret to share, so you have to ask Naruto before he leaves. And yes, he does go through things like that almost every day, but I can only guess why he has stayed so loyal, and smiled so much. Naruto hasn't had many friends in his life, so he is very protective of those he does have, he wouldn't want them to worry about him, so he smiles, and he wouldn't want them to get hurt, so he stays here to protect them," he pulled away and looked in his daughters eyes, "do you think you are one of those he wants to protect?"

Ino thought for a moment, "I don't know, daddy, I was mean to him a lot when we were little, but…I want to be. I want to help him, to protect him, to…to be his friend," _and...maybe more._

"Then use this week well, try to be his friend. There is nothing we can do about his banishment at the moment, but he has the backing of almost every clan head, one of the elders, and the Hokage herself, we will find a way to help him. And the hokage is close to him, she won't just abandon him, I wouldn't be surprised if she was thinking of a way to get him out of this right now."

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^------------------------

Tsunade was in a bad way, a seriously bad way. One could tell it was bad because Shizune was actually giving her sake. Tsunade didn't know what emotion to feel anymore, anger at the council for banishing one of the few people she had left, or at the 'last Uchiha' for starting all this, or sorrow at the idea of what the village would be like without the little ball of energy or how the boy would feel when he found out.

Shizune wasn't much better; she was actually contemplating using her poison gases on the civilian council when a knock came to the office door. Koharu entered.

"I am sorry to disturb you on such a sad occasion, Tsunade."

Tsunade looked red faced at the elder, "What do you want and what are you up to?" Tsunade had been confused at this elder's actions in the meeting.

"I came to ask if you have had a chance to inform Uzumaki of his fate."

The bottle in the Sannin's hand shattered, "He just woke up before I left for the council meeting, His mission a success, a new friend keeping an eye on him and keeping him company, and the knowledge that he has more than he thought, I figured I would let him have at least one night of peaceful sleep before I have to destroy his world around him."

Koharu nodded, "I understand, I would like to come with you tomorrow when you do."

"Once again, why? According to sensei's diary, you usually went against Naruto, what are you up to you old hag?"

"I can fully understand your disbelief, you will understand tomorrow, but…he did something just before the chunin exams, he saved something of mine, something more precious to me than my own life, even at the risk of his own. I will be at the hospital at about 10 tomorrow morning." She moved towards the door and opened it to reveal Tsume about to knock, before she turned to face her hokage, "For what it is worth, Tsunade, I am truly sorry, for everything that has happened, "and the aged kunoichi left, thinking in the hall, _I guess I will have to tell her tonight, _the old woman sighed, _I just know she's going to cry her little heart out._

Back in the office, Tsunade turned to the Inuzuka head, "What can I do for you, Tsume?"

"I know you said you want Naruto-kun to rest for a few days, but I would like to request he be brought to the Inuzuka compound tomorrow afternoon," The woman said with a respectful bow.

"May I ask what this visit is for; you aren't actually planning on having Naruto marry your daughter so soon, are you?" The blonde asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, Tsunade-sama, I wish to give him a gift, I don't wish to speak of it outside of the compound, but it is something my clan does not give out lightly, and he is free to turn it down, but it will be explained when you arrive with him."

The Hokage studied the feral woman for a moment, "I will try to bring him by, but I will send a message if he is unable to come."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." And with that, Tsume left, and Tsunade looked out over the village under the moonlight.

"How are we going to tell him, Tsunade-sama?" the assistant asked, knowing this could very well break the boy.

"I don't know, Shizune, but I can't just leave him to wander alone out there, at least when I was travelling, I had you with me, but those bastards think they can just push me into forcing him out, they forget, if it weren't for him…I wouldn't be here…" the blonde thought for a minute then suddenly had a grin on her face that scared her assistant a little, "Shizune, get me some blank scrolls, some more ink, the village financial statements, and coffee, lots of coffee, I have work to do. And find Jiraiya and tell him to get his ass down here, NOW."

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^--------------------------

Hinata was in her room, about ready for bed. This had turned out to be a good day, she had finally told Naruto how she felt, even though his response wasn't exactly what she would have wished for, he didn't turn her down. And, given what she just learned about him, it was an answer she could understand, she was also glad that he had not only wanted to see her tomorrow, but he hadn't realized anything about her little 'Naruto watching' trips.

A knock came from her door, "Hinata-sama, your father requests your presence in his study."

"Th-thank you," Hinata put on a kimono and made her way to her father's study and knocked lightly on the door, "Tou-sama, you asked to see me?"

"Yes, Hinata, come in." Hinata walked in and sat herself on a cushion in front of her father's desk as he poured a cup of tea before passing it to her, "Drink, I am afraid we have much to talk about." Hinata accepted the glass, and took a sip as her father spoke again, "I understand you have taken a liking to this Uzumaki Naruto."

Hinata almost inhaled some of the tea and started sputtering and coughing before she was able to answer, "W-w-what do y-you mean T-T-Tou-sama?"

Hiashi almost smirked at his daughter's reaction, which was answer enough for him, "Do not worry, my daughter, I have no issue with young Uzumaki. I will admit until a few months ago I had showed no favor towards him. But I heard that he had motivated you to fight your cousin, and saw personally how he fought your cousin, the last piece of my late brother I have left, and changed him for the better. I have never truly met the boy, but he has already helped change my life. He… reminds me of someone I knew who died several years ago, because he keeps becoming stronger, and those around him become stronger in some way as well. So I would fully support any relationship you pursue with him, and believe such a relationship would eventually bring nothing but honor to our clan." His expression soured, "But these facts make it even more difficult to tell you this, it was decided earlier today by majority vote of the Council, that he be banished after a one week suspension of the sentence for him to get his affairs in order."

Hinata was shocked by the news, and dropped he glass, which shattered spilling tea all over. The poor girl was in tears, she finally tells him and his is about to be banished, "I-it's because of K-Kyuubi, isn't it father."

Hiashi was shocked, but visibly he just cocked an eyebrow, "How do you know of the fox?"

"N-Naruto-kun told me about it t-today when a summon dog mentioned it without knowing it was a secret."

_A summon dog?_ "You mean Hatake's dog?" he asked, fully aware of the jonin's actions and where they landed him in respect to the Inuzuka clan, the hokage, and many other clans when they found out.

His daughter shook her head, and explained about the canines' arrival, "and w-when Katsumi-san asked about the K-Kyuubi in front of me, Anko-san and K-Kurenai-sensei told me the truth, with N-Naruto-kun's permission. Father, is there n-nothing we can do to help him?"

"At the moment, I am afraid not, at least not to keep him in the village. But, I suspect Lady Hokage is coming up with something, and from her expression, Inuzuka-san is up to something as well. I have been trying to think of how I could help the boy without worrying about the Hyuga council's interference. Go, rest Hinata, and I am sorry."

Hinata nodded and returned to her room, and eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^------------------------

**Authors notes- In respect to my take on the canine contract, Foxes, jakals and raccoon dogs all fall within the genetic family Canidae. And I came up with the whole tribes idea from a thought I had when it came to the problems another author was having with writing what to summon for the neck country contract, with such a broad term like canine or lizard, how do you separate them, so I came up with the tribes.**

**As for the tribes themselves, the seven are: Lead Tribe, Tundra, Plains, Forest, Mountain, Tropic, and Savannah. Each tribe has special uses for the summoner, and some in each tribe are capable of jutsu, the elements of which depend on the tribe. These differences will be better explained later, but I do have most of it planned out, aside from actual members that I haven't mentioned. Kakashi's dogs are all of the plains tribe.**

**One last note on summons, some writers have summons off in another world (sort of a different plain of existence) and some have them from a different part of Naruto's planet, I am of the former, simply because it makes some things easier, and some harder. That's all.**

_**What is Tsume Planning for Naruto? What about Tsunade's plans? What did Naruto do to change Koharu's opinion of him? How will Naruto take the news of his sentence? Find out next time on Hokage on the Run.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Mornings were always a quiet time at the Aburame clan "hives" as people called them. Truthfully the clan homes were always quiet, with the exception of the soft buzzing from the actual hives that spawned new swarms for newborn members or those whose swarms were destroyed by things like poison or electrocution.

But in the home of the clan head things seemed tense, and while outsiders wouldn't be able to tell the difference in Shibi's usually stoic demeanor, but son could almost as soon as he sat for breakfast.

Shino studied his father for a while as they ate alone in silence; Shino's mother was out of the village researching a few insects that might be good additions to the hive.

"Father, is something bothering you?" Shino asked quietly.

Shibi sighed lightly, "Son, what do you know about Uzumaki Naruto? What is your relationship with him?"

A bit confused by the question, Shino answered, "I consider him an ally, and a friend. We don't spend much time together, and he has always been a bit strange, but he has been gaining strength at a surprising rate for having been the last of our class. He is a good person as I have heard. One of my teammates used to get into trouble pulling pranks with him, and the other is, attracted to him. Why do you ask?"

"I trust you know the details of his most recent mission."

Shino nodded, "Uchiha Sasuke attempted to defect to Otogakure with the help of Oto-nin, they were stopped by Naruto, Kiba, a few of my other former classmates, and a few ninja from Suna. Hinata was crushed when she heard Naruto was in critical condition and she was unable to visit him at the time."

"Yes, I am pleased you know the truth, several in the village were spreading rumors that he was kidnapped. But, due to certain events during that mission, those of the civilian council are convinced that Uzumaki has become a threat, and, against the judgment of the majority of the clan heads as well as myself, they saw fit to sentence him to be banished in one week's time.

"I see no logic in that," Shino said in his usual monotone, "as little time as I have spent personally with him, it is glaringly obvious that he would do nothing to bring harm to the village, in truth, he would die to keep it safe."

"As true as that may be, there are certain circumstances that prevent people from seeing that. The civilians on the council fear him because of these circumstances, and that is not likely to change."

"Father, these 'circumstances', does it have to do with the strange chakra he used against Neji in the chunin exams."

"What sort of 'strange chakra'?"

Shino shook his head, "I am not sure, but my insects didn't like it, it seemed almost…inhuman."

Shibi raised his brow, his son had gotten close to the truth, "I am sorry, but I am not allowed to speak of it, so you will have to ask Naruto-san himself for the answer. But, I can say this, what was meant to mark him as a hero, has brought him nothing but the hatred and abuse of many in this village, and, in social acceptance, has made him a little like us. I have tried to help him before and adopt him as your brother, but that other chakra of his is poisonous for our Kikaichu, and my attempts, as well as those of many other clan heads, were blocked by those who fear him. They felt allowing him into any clan would make him stronger, and that is not something they wanted."

Shino, although he didn't show it, was greatly surprised at the idea; he had always wanted a sibling when he was growing up. Because of the insects in his body, not many wanted to try being his friend, so the thought of someday having a brother or sister that he could talk to, he could teach, he could have fun with, brought a slight smile to his face in his younger days. And who knows, adoption into the Aburame clan could have made Naruto into a whole different person, and the thought of seeing Naruto as a trench coat clad, quiet, calculating Aburame was… amusing to say the least. "So they wish to be rid of him because of these ignorant fears they have?" His father nodded, "And is there anything we can do?"

"At the moment, I have a few clan members searching the legal records for any precedence that may help, but the prospects are bleak at best."

Shino rose from his seat, "Please excuse me, father, I wish to think over these things." And he left the room, thinking, _Naruto, what are you hiding?_

^~^~^~^~^~^~^-------------------

Sakura showed up at the training ground early and was trying to get in some exorcises, knowing she had a long way to go after near starving herself to look good. She spent some time trying to figure out the strength trick she had smashed the training post with, but so far she just ended up with some scraped knuckles, it seemed so far she could only use it when she was really pissed or upset, and even then it seemed to only be good for a burst like a punch or kick. _Maybe I can get Neji or Hinata to check my chakra when I try again._

"You're early," Sakura turned to see her new bun-haired teacher walking towards her, "Glad to see you didn't pick up any of your teacher's bad habits."

_At least she doesn't know about the book hidden in the back of my dresser, _Sakura thought before bowing politely, "Thank you, Tenten-sensei, and thank you for teaching me, I know I have a way to go."

"No problem, Sakura, like you said yesterday, with Lee and Neji in the hospital and Gai-sensei on a mission, I don't have much to do. Now did you decide what weapon you want to start with?"

The pinkette nodded, "I looked over the list and thought I should start with the Bo staff, I thought it would be a good, balanced weapon to start with," she scratched the back of her head in a very Naruto-like gesture before adding, "and at least with that I don't have to worry about an accidental stab wound."

Tenten smiled, _she's starting to take all this seriously,_ she thought, the weapons specialist always cringed a little when she thought back to the pitiful slap-fest between her new student and the Yaminaka, and at least the blonde had bothered to learn a jutsu outside of the base academy three. The brunette unsealed a pair of staves and tossed one to Sakura, "Well then, let's see what I have to work with," she said with a devious glint in her eye that, frankly, scared Sakura.

The young Haruno knew she would be in quite a bit of pain come lunchtime.

^~^~^~^~^~^~^-------------------

Naruto blinked his eyes open as the first rays of dawn shone through the windows. He turned his head just enough to get his eyes out of the light, in his half asleep state, he just thought, _These hospital pillows have gotten comfier, and softer, _but as he adjusted his head to get more comfortable, he was greeted with a soft moan. It was then he remembered the sleeping arrangements before he fell asleep, and realized what the 'pillows' probably were.

But before he could move, a pair of arms around his chest as Anko whispered groggily into his ear, "Good morning, Naruto-kun, now go back to sleep." He tried to get free, but was held down, "You're not going anywhere, except back to sleep."

"C'mon, Anko-chan, I know I can't leave the hospital, but can't I just go for a walk? If I stay here in bed for days I'll go crazy."

Anko propped herself on an elbow and looked at the boy, at this point she didn't feel like arguing, and she understood how hard it would be to stay still for him. She ran through a few hand signs and summoned a pair of vipers, each about three feet long, one was a light orange with grey blue stripes, the other with the reversed colors.

The mainly orange one spoke first, "You called, Mistressss."

The other wasn't so nice, "Why the hell are you calling usss at this ungodly hour, mistresss?"

Anko addressed the three, "Naruto-kun, this is Euryale," she motioned to the light orange one, who she addressed next, "You are to make sure Naruto doesn't leave the hospital, and you are also to protect him, there are those around the hospital who aren't as fond of him as I am. And Euryale, be clear, I like this kid and so do a fair number of powerful people, if something happens to him, you'll probably end up as a belt, understand?" The serpent nodded and Anko turned to the other snake, "Stheno, you will stay with me, and alert me if Naruto and your sister get into trouble, and the same threat goes for you, got it?" The other snake nodded. The lighter colored viper slithered up and around Naruto's neck. "Run along, gaki, so I can go back to sleep."

Naruto stood with a confused look, "How will we alert you?"

Anko opened one slightly blood shot eye and the snake on his shoulder spoke, "Naruto-sssan, I will explain while you walk, ssso as not to disturb Mistressss." Naruto nodded and left with the snake, a part of him noticing the missing pig from the room. Once they were in the hall, a light snore came from the room as Naruto started walking the halls. The snake spoke again, "Thank you, Naruto-sssan, the Mistressss can be a little…disagreeable when she doesn't get enough sssleep. Now, to answer your question, if there is trouble, we will be able to contact them through my sisster. We are twinsss, two who are born of the sssame egg, and we share a sort of mental connection, so we can contact each other over great distances."

"Wow," Naruto said in awe, "I wish had a twin I could do that with."

Euryale put on an expression that reminded Naruto of a smile, "Yess, it iss cool, but sometimes my sisster can be a little annoying with it, she can be very brash at times."

Naruto took a moment to see where his feet had taken him; the hallway was empty save for a single ANBU next to a door, who seemed to be asleep, leaning against the wall. Naruto walked up and waved his hand in front of the masked face, _I don't believe it, asleep on the job. And who's he guarding?_ Naruto peeked in the door and saw a familiar redhead with her legs in casts. He walked in, still trying to remember where he knew her from and wondering what happened to her. When he was beside her, an eye cracked open.

"What the fuck do you want, Blondie?" The young woman asked, sounding very pissed off, "Now they send little fucking kids to interrogate me?"

"Hey, you're not that much older than me!" Naruto yelled, before he realized who this was, "Hey, you're that lady who was helping Sasuke try to run!"

"Well congratulations, dumbass, you got it in one. Now can you leave me to rot in fucking peace?"

"Well excuse me for worrying lady! I saw your ANBU guard asleep and thought there might be trouble!"

Tayuya was silenced, not many people would yell back at her, and then she saw the orange snake. She remembered something from her earlier years, bright colored bugs and lizards are usually colored like that for a reason, Monarch butterflies, poison arrow frogs, they had bright colors to warn predators they were poisonous, the same could probably be said of this snake. She sneered at the boy, "So that fucking bastard sent one of his little spies to finish me off, huh? Well eat shit, fucker, that blonde cock sucker already did that mind scan thing, so they already know what I do, so you're too late."

Naruto turned to the snake, "Do you know what she's talking about?"

Euryale looked to the redhead, "Well, Naruto-ssan, I think she believes that we work for the traitor Orochimaru."

He turned to the sound kunoichi, "Why the hell would I work for that bastard? Last time I saw him he almost killed baa-chan to get me."

The redhead looked confused, "Why the hell would he bother with a little bitch like you?"

Naruto put his hands on his hips, "Because Kabuto-teme was out cold after I put him through a bolder."

"And you expect me to believe a leaf headed punk beat Kabuto-hentai?" Tayuya asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"I don't care if you believe it, it's the truth. I blasted him through a bolder with my Rasengan."

Euryale decided to re-enter the conversation, "And I would appreciate it if you didn't insinuate any sort of connection between myself and that giant worm _Manda_." She put so much venom into that name that some seemed to drip from her fangs.

Tayuya looked between the two for a moment, "Then what the fuck are you two doing here?"

"Naruto-ssan wanted to take a walk, and he is not to be left to his own devices, should he get into trouble," the serpent took note and chuckled at the indignant look on the blonds face before continuing, "And since Mistressss is not quite a morning person, she summoned me to keep him out of trouble."

"So you're this fucking brat's babysitter?"

"Hey," Naruto interjected, "I don't need a babysitter! Euryale is just here in case I get attacked while I'm recovering from getting hit with two, TWO, chidori hits, so why don't you just shut it lady!?"

The redhead chuckled, "So that Sharingan brat used a chidori on you? I remember seeing him use that in the exams before our attack, the red eyed fuck must have pussed out if you're still standing here."

She was surprised to see the anger drain from his face, replaced with sadness, "You're wrong," he moved a hand to his chest, "he was right on target, he hit me here," he moved his hand down to his stomach, "and here. I saw him as a brother, and he used an assassination jutsu on me twice."

Tayuya crossed her arms and turned her head away, there seemed to be something in this kids expression that she couldn't stand to look directly at, "Che…we're ninja, kid, we market in deceit and death, so get used to it and grow a pair, or give it up. What, you spoiled leaf brats think it's all glory and taking down the bad guy, becoming a hero?" Naruto chuckled a little, "And what the hell is so funny, fuck nut?"

"Of all things to describe my life, spoiled definitely isn't one of them." She turned and looked at the blond whose eyes seemed to ooze pain, "Lady, outside of missions, how many assassination attempts have been targeted right at you, with only you as a target?" He saw a look of confusion cross her face as he continued, "By the time I was five years old, there had been about twenty or thirty that I can remember, and that's not counting all the times the orphanage workers gave me rotten food, if any at all. When I was five, I was forced out of the orphanage, and by the time I was ten there had been a total of around ninety to a hundred outright tries to kill me. And when I graduated the academy, it was only because a teacher tricked me and tried to kill me and another teacher before I kicked his ass. You said you were at the Chunin Exams, right?" Tayuya nodded, a bit too taken aback by the quiet outburst to use words, "And you saw my match, right?" She nodded again, "That guy I fought was supposed to be the greatest prodigy of his generation, the top of his class, and I, the guy with the lowest passing grades of my class, beat him with just my shadow clone jutsu, after that I fought and beat Garra of the sand, even after he let out that damn Tanuki. Want to guess what rank I still am?"

The redheads eyes widened when tears started to fall from Naruto's, "I helped to defeat Gato and his thugs in the Land of Waves, I saved the princess of snow, I helped the Wasabi clan get back in control of their land, I helped save Takigakure from that jerk Suien, and most in this village still act like I should be thanking them for letting me live this long. Let me tell you, I am a lot of things, but spoiled isn't one of them."

For one of the few times in her life, Tayuya actually felt bad for someone else, for someone who, by all rights, should be her enemy, and it didn't help that, of the sound four, she was probably the only one to have anything resembling morals or a conscience. "If all that crap is true, then why in the fuck are you still here? If you can beat the Uchiha bastard, and he managed to get out, then just fucking bolt on out of here."

A small smile came across Naruto's face, "You know, you're the second person to ask me that since yesterday, and you'll get the same answer. I stay for the same reason I am a ninja, so I can protect those I care about and those who are precious to me, and to someday become the Hokage."

Tayuya looked the kid over, seeking any sign of deception. When she couldn't find any hint of a lie, she felt a small, grudging respect for the blond appear. She smirked, "What's your name again brat?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Well, Uzumaki, maybe you aren't as much of a worthless little bitch as I thought you were."

)()()()()()()(

Inside her cage, Kyuubi sat in her human form in a meditative stance. She had heard bits and pieces of what was going on outside, and she had to agree with one thing she had heard, Naruto was little. Plainly put, the boy seemed too underdeveloped, and if anything, her presence should have boosted his growth rate. Even with the years of malnutrition, he should have been one of the taller and more muscular kids in his class.

Kyuubi slowly reached a tendril of her chakra out of the cage and through the halls of her hosts mind, slowly feeling its way around and inspecting for anything out of the ordinary. After a while, she hit pay dirt as the tendril brushed against something that definitely shouldn't be there, an imprint of somebody else's chakra. It wasn't hers or Naruto's, and it wasn't the same as the Yondaime's, which was still present in her own seal, and whatever it was doing, she couldn't believe it was good.

Slowly, the tendril brushed against the mark, looking for a weakness she could use to destroy it.

)()()()()()()(

Tsunade woke in her office chair covered in a blanket she assumed had been draped over her by her assistant. She had worked on her plans late into the night, and had not gotten to sleep until early in the morning. She reached up for a half filled glass of cold coffee and downed it before calling out for her assistant, "Shizune, more coffee," knowing she would need her energy for today.

After a new pot was brought to her, the blond looked over her work so far, she had to be careful in her planning so as to leave as few openings for Naruto's enemies as possible, but deep down she was just delaying the inevitable. No matter what, she would have to tell the young Uzumaki of his sentence, and help him get things in order, as well as get things straightened out with his friends and the business with the Inuzuka clan. She wondered what Tsume might be planning, hoping the feral woman wasn't too serious about Naruto marrying into her clan, leaving the village with a litter of hyperactive Inuzuka kids with a penchant for pranks.

A knock came to the door before Shizune came in, "Shishou, Jiraiya is here."

Tsunade downed another cup of coffee before answering, "Alright, send him in."

The white haired Sannin came in with a grin, "I knew you couldn't resist my charms forever, Hime, but wasn't an ANBU retrieval a bit much."

"Shut it, pervert, I'm not in the mood to deal with your crap right now. First off, in their infinite stupidity, the council majority has decided that Naruto is beginning to pose a threat to them, so they held a vote for his execution."

"WHAT!?" the toad sage roared, his **Hari Jizō **accidentally activating and firing a few needles at the wall behind him.

"But Danzo changed it to banishment until he can prove he is no threat. And the fact that it was Danzo who suggested banishment means he's planning something for Naruto that he wouldn't be willing to try when he's here in the village."

"Well screw that," Jiraiya growled, "I'm going with him, and Danzo's little punks aren't gonna get through me."

"You're not going anywhere," Tsunade said as she handed him a stack of papers.

Jiraiya read through them for a moment, his eyes widening every few pages, "And what makes you so sure I'm going to go along with this? I denied the job once, so why should I take it now?"

In a second the blond had him pinned against the wall, his neck in one hand and a scalpel in the other, "I'll give you three good reasons. First, because it's best for Naruto, second, because you're better at all this hand in the shadows, cloak and dagger bullshit than I am, and finally because, if you don't, I will finish what I started years ago and remove your other testicle, is that good enough?" The toad sage, who was sweating profusely at this point, nodded, "Good." She released him and he fell to his feet, shielding the threatened treasure he had left as the Godaime continued, "Look on the bright side, it's only temporary, and you can make trouble for whoever goes after you." Her expression turned solemn, "Now we have to go tell him about all this, and it would be a good idea to have you there too." And the two left for the hospital, both knowing they were about to crush a young boys world.

)()()()()()()(

In one corner of the village of Konoha, there stood a house, and in that house lived Hasegawa Daisuke and his wife Michiko. Daisuke was a simple carpenter and his wife was a homemaker, or at least that was what everyone thought. In reality, they were what the couple called "watchers", to everyone else they where a sort of spy. The two of them weren't big infiltration, file stealing, cloak and dagger spies, they were simply paid to keep an eye on the village and report about the goings on within the village, and since the two of them were never ninja, it wasn't against any type of peace treaty. At the moment, the couple was working on their report on the recent events surrounding the last Uchiha, a few clan heirs, and one Uzumaki Naruto. At first Daisuke wasn't really planning on mentioning Uzumaki, but the recent decision to banish the boy changed that, after which Michiko pointed out that the possibility of a gennin who was trained favored by two Sannin and trained by one after which he defeated the last Uchiha. And after that, she reminded her husband of what happened to the last person who omitted information the spy mistakenly deemed useless to the new Tsuchikage.

Last they heard, he had just stopped shitting gravel.

With the threat in mind, they included all they could find about the young outcast blond, before putting it in the hidden storage blood seal on a messenger hawks back before the bird flew off.

)()()()()()()(

Two thirds of the legendary three walked into the room that should hold their young charge, to find only a sleeping Anko Mitarashi. A tick mark appearing on her head, Tsunade walked towards the dreaming Jonin and landed a good thump on her head. Just as Anko was about to start yelling she noticed who it was she was about to threaten with death, a pissed off looking Tsunade.

"Anko," the medic said with a strained voice, "Is there any part of 'keep an eye on Naruto' that you don't understand?"

The snake jonin chuckled nervously, "Relax, Tsunade, I'm tracking him," she looked to her side at the snake who had just woke and lifted its head, "Stheno, where is your sister and Naruto?"

The viper was silent for a few seconds before replying, "Sisster and the blond are two floors up and twenty feet to the wessst, Euryale says Naruto is talking to a kunoichi with red hair and broken legsss."

Anko turned to her boss, "See, the brats just making friends with someone."

Tsunade seethed for a moment, "Anko, he's talking to the captured Oto-nin, the curse marked one."

)()()()()()()(

Naruto rubbed an ache on the back of his head as he continued talking with his new acquaintance. She was a little rough, and difficult to get used to, but Tayuya, as she had introduced herself, wasn't so bad. And once you manage to filter out her cursing, she was nice for conversation.

Tayuya herself wasn't doing so bad herself. Her legs still tingled, but the drugs helped a lot. And the blond she was talking to wasn't so bad. She realized she probably wasn't going anywhere, especially since she had nowhere to go, Orochimaru didn't like failure, and with her the last of the Sound Five he may just decide to start fresh. Her best case scenario would be a quick death, and worst case would be a slow one from his sick experiments.

They were talking pleasantly enough, at least by their respective standards, when suddenly they heard a woman's voice yelling outside, "You aren't getting paid to be sleeping, you idiot!" after which the ANBU from the hall sailed in through the door and out the window, in the doorway, Naruto saw Tsunade, Jiraiya and Anko, the blond looked pissed, Anko was snickering at the ANBU and Jiraiya looked uncharacteristically serious.

"Hey Ero-sennin, Anko-chan, Tsunade-baa-chan," Naruto said smiling, not noticing the strange look from the redhead.

_TSUNADE-BAA-CHAN? This little fucker's granny is the snake bastard's teammate?_ Tayuya was suddenly very nervous, if this was Tsunade, then chances where the old man was Jiraiya, and if Naruto could get away with openly calling them names like that, they were probably close to him.

Anko was the first to speak, "Naruto," she said in a fake hurt voice, "I can't believe you left me alone and came here just to be with another girl," she sniffled and wiped away a fake tear, "what would Hinata think?"

Naruto and Tayuya both turned bright red, and Tayuya temporarily forgot who was in the room when she screamed, "IT AIN'T FUCKIN LIKE THAT, I AIN'T SOME STUPID WHORE WHO SPREADS HER LEGS ANY IDIOT LIKE THAT!" The redhead's eyes widened and she immediately slapped a hand over her own mouth as she saw the two Sannin glare at her, Anko just giggled and Naruto stayed silent, his face red enough to put Hinata to shame.

Tsunade decided to ignore the Oto-nin's outburst for the moment and turned to Naruto, "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay in bed?"

Naruto sighed, "C'mon, Baa-chan, I was just stretching my legs, and I didn't leave the hospital, and Euryale was with me."

"Naruto, you just had a very near-death experience, anyone else would have died. You may heal fast, but you need to rest like anyone else or you could hurt yourself."

Naruto saw the concern etched in the elder blonds face, "Sorry, Baa-chan, but I just wanted to take a walk."

The Hokage sighed, "Well, are you feeling alright?'

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Well, I have a bit of a headache."

"Let me take a look, last thing we need is for you to survive a hole through your gut only to die from a brain aneurism." The medic-nin's hands began to glow green as she ran them around the boys head, stopping at the base of the skull. She suddenly got very angry, as evidenced by the fact that she put a fist through a wall, "Jiraiya, come here," she said in a strained voice as she brought him to a corner of the room.

The two whispered to each other too quietly for the others to hear, Naruto was worried as Anko put a hand on his shoulder, and Tayuya was a little worried about him, but was mostly freaked out by the fact that Tsunade just punched through a solid wall.

When the two stopped talking, they turned to the boy. Tsunade spoke first, "Naruto, I need to shave the back of your head."

"What!?" of all the things he might have expected, that wasn't it.

The hokage looked to him with pleading eyes, "Just trust me, Naruto, I can stimulate growth and have your hair back to normal in a shortly, but this is important."

The younger blond looked at her for a moment before sitting in a chair, "Make it quick please."

Tsunade formed a chakra scalpel and shaved a strip on the back of Naruto's head and Anko gasped at what she saw. Jiraiya stepped behind him, spending a little time inspecting his scalp before turning to his old teammate, "You're right, it's angled a little low, so it is possible."

Naruto was getting a little worried, "What's going on back there?"

Tsunade ignored him for the moment, "Jiraiya, can you remove it?"

"Of course, Hime, it won't be pleasant, and with _it_…"

"Her."

"What?"

Tsunade sighed, "Her, not it, I'll explain later, continue."

Jiraiya was quiet for a second, "Right, anyway, _her_ interference is what revealed it and seems to be weakening it. I can remove it easy, but it won't be painless."

Anko Finally spoke herself, "Is that what I think it is?" she asked, a little fear and anger evident in her voice.

"WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE JUST FUCKING TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?" Naruto yelled, getting everyone's attention.

Tayuya for on, chuckled, _I must be rubbing off on the kid a little._

The chuckle got Tsunade's attention, "Naruto, maybe we should talk back in your room."

Naruto crossed his arms, "I am not moving until you tell me what is going on, I don't care what Tayuya hears."

Tsunade sighed and pulled up her own chair to sit in front of him, "Naruto, in the ANBU level prison, there is a special seal used on the prisoners, a Restriction Seal that is normally linked to the aggression centers of the brain. This is done to lesson aggressive behavior in violent criminals. However," She continues, anger dripping from her voice," it seems SOMEONE saw fit at some point earlier in your life, to place that seal on you, but instead of linking it to that section of your brain they, either by blind stupid luck or precise aim, linked it to restrict your pituitary gland, retarding puberties effects and your physical growth, probably to make you weak. We may have never noticed it if not for the fact that _she_ seems to have found it and is trying to break it herself. The pervert should be able to remove it, but it will hurt."

"What kind of sick fucking bastard puts a seal like that on a kid!?" Tayuya exclaimed, her curse seal may not be pleasant, but at least it had benefits.

Jiraiya shook his head, "Unfortunately, that list is way too long."

Tayuya looked at the young Uzumaki, "Seals, assassination attempts, rank sabotage, what the fuck did you do to piss people off?"

"HE didn't do anything," Anko hissed, which was echoed by her summoned snakes, "This village is just full of idiots who see a kunai instead of a scroll."

"Anyway," Jiraiya said, diverting the conversation, "A certain someone knocked the seal loose, so it should be quick and easy to remove, it'll just hurt like hell. I can do it now, if you're ready?" Naruto thought for a moment and nodded. Jiraiya took out a bottle of ink and began to scribble on the back of his head, after a minute, Naruto dropped to the ground, clutching his head in pain. After a couple minutes he lay on the ground motionless.

After a moment, Tayuya broke the silence, "Is he…alive?"

"Yeah, he'll be out for a few minutes," the toad sage replied as Tsunade picked Naruto up and placed him in a chair, placing glowing hands on the back of his head, "I had to use a counterseal method and let them cancel each other out, since I couldn't cut it off without killing him, sealing this seal would be useless, and it isn't the type of seal that can just be released."

"I guess it's a good thing the fox bitch found the damned thing, huh?" Tayuya saw the others in the room look at her with surprise, "What? I ain't fucking stupid, the snake bastard said the fox was sealed in someone, the brat has had a shit life, and please '_SHE found it' 'HER_ interference' and the 'kunai not the scroll' bit, you old fucks ain't very good at keeping secrets."

While Jiraiya was holding Tsunade back, as she tried to get Tayuya for the age insult, Anko dismissed her summons and looked to the redhead, "Before you open you big mouth again, there is a law in place that, under pain of death, prevents you from talking about it to those who don't already know."

"Who the hell am I gonna fucking tell anyways?" The redhead asked, "I'm a prisoner, and I certainly am not walking out of here."

Anko glared a little at the captured kunoichi, but was cut off by Tsunade, "Anko, Take Naruto back to his room, Jiraiya, go with her and make sure the seal is completely gone."

"What, no faith in my seal skills Hime?"

The pervert shrank under the blond woman's glare, "Just go." Jiraiya disappeared out the door after Naruto and Anko. Alone with the prisoner, Tsunade spoke, "What did he say to you before we got here?" She asked in a tone that promised pain if she was lied to.

Tayuya gulped, fearing the wrong answer would have her buried in a coffin, dead or alive, "When he got here, I saw the snake and thought the snake bastard got another spy past your shitty security. I insulted him and he got all pissy about the Uchiha trying to kill him," her expression fell, "then I said something I sorta…regret now, and it ain't often I regret my words." She saw a questioning look on the older woman's face and elaborated, "I called him spoiled. I've spent most of my life on the streets, and Oto wasn't exactly a five star resort, when I was a kid I always thought of the Five Shinobi Nations as these great and powerful rich groups of pompous, spoiled, tight assed, selfish ninja assholes. Now in comes this brat from what is supposed to be the 'Greatest Shinobi Nation' who's been through shit that makes Oto look almost like a loving daycare, just had a teammate try to fucking kill him, and the whole time had a seal on him to keep him as some undeveloped midget, and you know why he was here? He was worried for someone else because the fucking ANBU was asleep on the job. If half the shit he implied was true it's a fucking wonder he can feel any emotion for himself, let alone someone who is supposed to be his enemy."

The female hokage sighed, "Yeah, that seems to be a pattern, he fights someone and later they somehow end up his friends. He even tried fighting me when we first met," Tayuya looked at her like she was crazy, "Yeah, he egged me into a fight, I won, but a week later he saved my ass when we fought Orochimaru." The blond smirked, "Believe it or not, that little idiot has also fought Orochimaru too, and he lived."

Tayuya's eyes couldn't get any wider, "That little bastard either has balls of steel or rocks for brains."

Tsunade chuckled, "I think it's just a little of each, but he can be pretty clever when he can focus." The medic turned serious again, "I have a question for you, and I will have honest answers, understand?" Tayuya nodded vigorously, "Good, what would you do if you got out of here?"

"Fuck if I know, I can't go back to Oto I'm the last of the team and the snake bastard would probably want to just start over, and would probably use me for those fucked up experiments of his, you'd be doing me a favor just killing me now."

An almost creepy smile spread across the slug Sannin's face, "How about I make you an offer…"

)()()()()()()(

Naruto groaned as he came to, he saw Jiraiya and Anko, "What hit me?"

"_**How do you feel Kit?"**_

"Like boss toad hit me." He thought a moment when he saw the confused looks of the other shinobi before he realized, that wasn't Anko's voice or Jiraiya's, "Kyuubi?"

Jiraiya looked a bit nervous when Naruto heard an answer, _**"You can hear me now?"**_

Naruto looked to the Sannin, "Ero-sennin, why can I hear Kyuubi in my head?"

Anko giggled a bit as Jiraiya did a quick check on Naruto's seal, after thinking for a moment he answered, "The seal seems fine, so I might guess that you were supposed to be able to talk to her at some point anyways, but the Restriction Seal I just removed might have blocked it. Since it wasn't meant to be used like that it may have messed with other parts of your mind, even when it is used right on prisoners it sometimes causes stuff like memory loss and attention deficits. Just be careful talking to her," Anko burst out laughing, "what the hell is so funny."

Anko stopped laughing just long enough to look at Naruto and say, "You've got a voice stuck in your head now." Before she started laughing again, but she stopped when Tsunade came in with a distinctly solemn look on her face.

"How are you feeling Naruto?"

"Well, I still have a bit of a headache and I hear Kyuubi when I'm awake now."

Tsunade looked shocked at the last bit, "You said you trust her, Right?" He nodded, "Then just be careful of what she says."

"_**You'd think she didn't trust me,"**_ Kyuubi said to her vessel.

Before he could react, Tsunade continued, "Naruto, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

The way she had said it made Naruto pale, "I…I'm not dying am I?"

The two Sannin sighed as Tsunade spoke, "No, Naruto, you aren't dying. Against my wishes and most of the clan heads, and by only a very slight majority, the council of Konoha has decided that in a week's time…you will be banished from the walls of Konoha."

All was silent in the room for a few moments as Naruto wore a blank expression, as tears formed in his eyes it was actually Anko who reacted first, "WHAT!? WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE FOSSILS THINKING?"

"They are actually using Kyuubi as an excuse, they think since Naruto used her power that he is losing control and he should be banished until he can prove to them that he won't be a threat."

The snake jonin was fuming, "They'll never accept that he won't be a threat, the only reason he would be allowed back into the village is so they can dance on his grave."

"Originally they were moving to execute him, and we barely avoided that." She pulled Naruto into a hug that, for a second, made Jiraiya green with envy, until the youth began sobbing into the medics chest, "Naruto, I'm sorry about this," She pulled the boy up and looked him in the eye, "Naruto, do you trust me?" slowly he nodded, "Then I need to tell you that I'm working on something to help you, I can't tell you what at the moment, but I will not just throw you out into the cold. Is there anyone outside of the village that you know you can trust, who you know will take you in?"

Naruto sniffled and thought for a moment before answering, "Yeah, I know I can trust Tazuna and his family in Wave and Koyuki, and I should be able to trust the Wasabi Clan as well."

"Alright, you have a week to get things in order, and I have a week to get things ready, when you do have to leave I want you to head towards Wave, understand?"

"Why baa-chan?"

"Because Wave is closest, other than that I just need you to trust me, okay," Before she could continue there was a knock on the door.

Anko moved to open it and when she did there was an indefinable orange blur and a distinct cry of "Boss" before Naruto was nearly knocked out of his hospital bed. There with her arms around Naruto's waist and her tearful eyes buried in his chest was a young pig-tailed girl crying, "You can't leave us, Boss, you just can't."

"Moegi?" Naruto exclaimed before a voice came from the door.

"I'm sorry, she got away from me," everyone but Moegi turned to see Koharu in the door, "we would have been here sooner but I let her sleep in since she had been up late crying."

Anko's eyes narrowed, "What are you doing here?"

The old woman sighed, "I merely came to bring my granddaughter to visit her 'Boss' and extend my apologies to him for what the council has done."

Tsunade stepped next to the elder kunoichi, "So this is your little treasure, huh?"

Koharu nodded and spoke quietly, "She is all I have left to remember my late daughter. A few days before the chunin exams, when the nominations where held and Kakashi nominated his team, an academy instructor spoke out feeling the young ones where not ready. That night my little Moegi told me about this bad Ame-nin that kidnapped her and how 'Boss' had risked his life to save her. Apparently the instructor was the Ame-nin and was testing Naruto, but he didn't know that. He risked himself against an unknown enemy to save Moegi-chan, and for that I am grateful."

Anko scowled, "So he's only a monster until he helps you? So what is he now, a guard dog?" Anko growled, "I wonder what your 'little treasure' would think if she knew what you're responsible for when it comes to her boss."

"Anko-chan," The women turned to Naruto, who seemed to be in the middle of a conversation and was staring intently at Anko and shook his head before turning to Tsunade, "Baa-chan, am I going to be able to leave today?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, and Tsume wanted you to come by this afternoon, she said she has something to give you."

Naruto turned to his younger friend, "Moegi, do you still have your key?" the girl nodded, "then would you mind running to my place and getting me some new clothes, my old ones are a little torn up from my mission. We can talk more after that."

Moegi sniffled and nodded before heading out the door, "I'll be right back boss, Gam-gam."

After he was sure the young girl was gone, Naruto turned to the snake jonin, "Anko-chan, don't say anything like that to Moegi, I don't want her to lose a grandmother over me."

All of the elder four where surprised as Jiraiya spoke, "Naruto, you could hear them?"

The young blond nodded and looked to Koharu, "I'm not doing this for you, but if Moegi found out it would just make things harder for her. And you had better be there for her."

Koharu nodded and smiled, _I don't see how I could have thought he was a demon at all._

Tsunade stepped up to Naruto, "While that's very noble of you, Naruto," she made a few hand signs as her hands began to glow and placed them over his ears, "I'm wondering how you where able to hear us though."

"Maybe that seal Ero-sennin was talking about screwed with my hearing."

Koharu blinked, "What seal?"

Tsunade turned to her elder Kunoichi, "Someone put a prison level Restriction seal on Naruto, only it was restricting his Pituitary gland. I don't suppose you would know anything about that, would you 'Elder Koharu'?"

The elder shook her head, "I didn't have anything to do with it if that's what you're asking. If I had to guess it would be either my former teammate Homura or one of the civilian council who gave the order, those on the Shinobi half of the council either support the boy or are not powerful enough to think they can get away with it, and Danzo sees him as a weapon, so weakening a weapons of his own wouldn't fit his personality."

"I suppose not," Tsunade admitted.

"Who's Danzo?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade sighed, "A royal pain in the ass."

At that moment Moegi burst in the door, flushed and out of breath, with Naruto's usual clothes in her arms, "Here… (Pant)…Here ya go Boss."

"Thanks Moegi." He waited a moment, "Can I have some privacy or do you guys plan to watch me change?" Everyone left the room, Moegi, and to a lesser extent Anko, with a blush. Once the door was closed Naruto.

"_**How are you feeling kit?" **_He heard from within his head.

"_I'm still a little sore and my chest itches from the hit," _he thought.

"_**That's not what I meant and you know it."**_

Naruto sighed, _"I don't know yet. Just when I'm making new friends, this happens. Anko-chan, Tsume-san, Ino, Hinata-chan, and now I have to leave them behind."_

Kyuubi could sense the tears forming in his eyes, _**"Don't hold it in, Naruto-kun, you have people that are here for you, and I believe you should trust the slug woman, I sense she may be up to some sort of trickery that would make any fox proud."**_

Meanwhile, outside the door, Tsunade sneezed.

"Bless you, Tsunade-sama," the little girl piped in.

"Thank you, Moegi." She turned to the snake jonin, "Now, Anko, what where you saying earlier about Hinata?"

)()()()()()()()(

Inuzuka Hana was a little confused. She woke up this morning to her mother telling her that she was giving _it_ to someone. From her studies as heiress of the clan, _it_ hadn't been given to someone in decades, since her great grandfather's time. And if that wasn't strange enough, _it_ was going to one Uzumaki Naruto, someone who was not even as old as her brother Kiba. But when she asked her mother why, the matriarch would reply, "Because he deserves it after the shit he's been through, now fetch damn it."

Her entire way to the hospital Hana wondered what her mother had meant. She had heard a few good things about the blond from Kiba, and it was commonly known that two of the Sannin had taken a shine to him, with Jiraiya teaching him and Tsunade claiming him as the reason for her return, but she still wasn't sure if all that was enough to earn _it_.

As she came to the room number her mother had told her, Hana saw a glimpse at how well connected the kid must have been, outside the room was two of the Sannin, Mitarashi Anko, who was an interrogation legend in her own right, and one of the village elders as well as a little girl.

Tsunade caught sight of the heiress as she approached, "Hello, Hana. Are you here for Naruto?" The dog kunoichi nodded, "Well, he's changing at the moment, and should be out in a moment."

A few seconds later the door opened and Naruto stepped out, and looked at the new face, "Hello."

"Hello Naruto-san, I am Inuzuka Hana, my mother sent me to bring you to our home," she looked at the group, "I am sorry, but I am only supposed to bring Naruto-san and Tsunade-sama."

The young girl looked downcast before Naruto knelt next to her, "Don't worry, Moegi. I'll tell you what, you bring Udon and Konohamaru to the park and we'll all spend the day together, okay?"

The young girl nodded and gave Naruto a tearful hug before leaving with her grandmother. Jiraiya turned to the others, "I have some things to get straightened out," he looked to Tsunade, "and I see if I can figure out who's behind the seal." And he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Anko stretched her arms, "I'm gonna try and get some sleep, and I have someone to pay a visit to and things to think about." She placed a hand on Naruto's head and ruffled his hair, "I'll see you soon kid, take care." And she too left in a swirl of leaves.

The trio left for the Inuzuka compound, at a slower than normal pace at Tsunade's insistence, seeing as Naruto just got out of the hospital. Along the way Naruto asked Hana why they wanted him at her home, but she always answered that it is not something they like to speak of outside the clan, and Naruto was silenced after the second time by a knock on the head from Tsunade.

When they reached the head house they were greeted by Tsume, Kuromaru and three strange grey dogs that Hana introduced as her partners, the Haimaru Sankyodai (the grey triplets).

Tsume greeted the blonds as she led them into a sitting room, "Thank you two for coming. Now Naruto-kun, I'm sure you're wondering why you're here." Shyly, the boy nodded, "And I am sure Tsunade-sama has informed you of the council's decision." Again he nodded, but Hana had a confused look as her mother continued, "Well, while I am vehemently against this, and I am sure Tsunade-sama is up to something," you could almost see a halo above the Sannin's head, "But I am truly sorry about your banishment." Hana's eyes shot open at this and, seeing this, Tsume asked, "With your permission, can I tell my daughter the whole story."

Naruto looked worried, but Tsunade put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Naruto, Hana has a good head on her shoulders." Naruto thought for a moment and nodded, the Hokage turned to the vet, "Hana, what you are about to be told is an S-class secret, protected on pain of death by a law put in place by my predecessor, even I couldn't talk about it without Naruto's permission." Hana's eyes widened at the gravity of that statement, if even the Hokage couldn't speak of it.

Tsume cleared her throat, "You remember what you were told of the Kyuubi's fate, right?" her daughter nodded, "It was a lie in order to keep in line with the law Tsunade mentioned. In truth, the Yondaime wasn't able to kill Kyuubi, so the fox was sealed within Naruto, the same way we seal things into scrolls, only with a much stronger seal." Hana looked strangely at the boy before her mother got her attention, "That does NOT mean he is the Kyuubi, nor that he is a demon or a fox, he was just unlucky to be born on that day."

Hana thought for a moment before asking, "Mom, what did you mean this morning by the, uh, things he's been through?"

Tsume growled, "A lot of people in the village are idiots, do you remember that time I beat you cousin into that month long coma?" Hana gulped and nodded, "He helped a mob of villagers track Naruto so they could try to kill him, ANBU managed to save him and arrest the villagers, but your cousin thought he could get away with it by calling for punishment from me," She smiled evilly, "almost no one was dumb enough to try one of their little 'fox hunts' again." Hana stared at Naruto as Tsume continued, "But we've gotten a bit off topic. Now as to why you are here, Naruto, I want to give you a something, something our clan hasn't given since my grandfather's time as it can only be given by the clan head, and only if their canine partner agrees. I want to give you a special seal mark," she saw a suspicious look on his face, "don't worry, it's kind of a glorified tattoo, what it does is marks you as an honorary member of the Inuzuka clan of high standing, putting you in equal position within the pack as Hana and Kiba," She smirked a bit, "And you can have first swing at becoming Hana's mate if you want." Satisfied with the bright shade of red the two teens had turned, she continued, "Aside from that, you can count on members of our clan to come to your aid outside of the village if they are close by. You can also have a canine partner of your own if you want, but that will have to wait, we have some pups, but they won't reach bonding age for a couple months yet, once they do I, personally, will bring the picks of the litter for you to choose. So this is up to you whether you want to take the seal or not."

Tsunade spoke before Naruto could, "Does that mean he would have to answer to your clan?"

"Only if he was to actually marry into the clan, otherwise he is like an outside member, and the only time he would have to answer to anyone is if he mistreats his partner, then he would have to answer to the canines, not me. And he can lose his status within the clan, as well as his partner, in the same way anyone else can, that's why we don't do this often."

The women looked at Naruto, who seemed to be staring at the floor, he looked up and there were tears on the edges of his eyes, "So, it'd be like joining your family?" Tsume smiled and nodded, and the boy gave an ear to ear grin, "Let's do this."

A few minutes later, Naruto was shirtless, alone in a room with Tsume and Kuromaru. Behind him, the matriarch was making hand signs as Kuromaru dipped his paw in a bowl that held a little blood from each of the three and made a print between Naruto's shoulder blades. After she finished the signs, she placed her hand over the paw print with a whispered, "Inugami no Shukufuku (blessing of the dog god)." There was a slight burning sensation where the mark was that spread to his face. When the feeling subsided, Tsume pulled a mirror from somewhere and held it in front of Naruto. There, below imposed under his whisker marks, where the red triangle marks of the Inuzuka.

"Congratulations, kid, you're an Inuzuka." Tsume said with a smile before the blond wrapped her in a hug.

"Thanks, Tsume-ba-san." Kuromaru chuckled at this, at least until Naruto latched on to him, calling him, "Kuromaru-ji-san," Before they laughed themselves to tears.

)()()()()()()(

Hinata woke late; she had had trouble sleeping through the night from nightmares, nightmares of what her life might become, of what might happen to Naruto outside the village. She groggily went through her morning routine, even though it was close to noon. She dressed, brushed her teeth, at a quick breakfast/lunch before heading out. She needed to find the Hokage; she needed to find some way to help her Naruto.

She arrived to the Hokage's office to find only her assistant Shizune asleep on her desk, her pig Tonton licking something out of a cup. When the pig noticed Hinata she nudged her owner awake. Shizune's head shot up, her hair a mess and her eyes a bit bloodshot before reaching for the cup, finding it empty. She growled at the little pig, who immediately hid under a chair. After walking to a coffee pot and downing the contents, Shizune turned to the guest, her eyes clear and her hair normal, looking magically nothing like she had a minute ago, "How may I help you, Hinata-san?"

Hinata blinked a bit at the transformation before answering, "I w-was wondering if I could s-see Hokage-sama about Naruto-kun's b-b-banishment?"

Shizune could see tears in the girl's eyes and stains on her face that said she had been crying before as well, "I'm sorry, but Tsunade-sama isn't in, at the moment she's with Naruto on business with the Inuzuka clan head

Hinata nodded with a quick thank you and left. Shizune watched the girl leave thinking, _I wonder if Tsunade-sama would mind a few changes to the plan._

)()()()()()()(

**A.N. Sorry about the long time to update, aside from partially working on other stories, reading others on the site and good old fashioned American laziness, my family is working on a new house we'll be moving to soon.**

**A quick note on the new mark and the Inuzuka induction, With the placement of a special seal mark, one that can only be placed by the current clan head with the approval of their partner, a person can become an honorary Inuzuka clan member of high standing, on equal grounds with the heir/ess within the pack. That person has the choice of taking a partner or not, but is considered part of the clan for life, barring any action that would result in a member's banishment, as such those of the Inuzuka will lend aid whenever possible. The new inductee also can have first attempt to claim the heir/ess as a mate if they wish, as such this mark isn't given lightly, and is given only in cases of people who have shown the true spirit of a warrior and Inuzuka, those who have shown honor, mental and physical strength and loyalty beyond all bounds.**

**Now a lot of people have been asking about the harem, the only girls I know for sure are Hinata and another I won't mention (it'll ruin the surprise). All others (Ino, Sakura, Tayuya, Anko, Tenten, Kyuubi, etc. etc.) are undecided, albeit some are leaning towards membership.**

**Well, I'll probably update one of my other stories before this, and might post one of the others I've been creating. Until then…**

_**What was the offer to Tayuya? Will the rest of the rookies learn of Naruto's secret? Will Jiraiya get to keep his last nut? All this and more on Hokage on the Run!**_


	4. Reactions

_**Chapter 4**_

A pair of figures moved quietly through the forest of Konoha as they stalked their prey. They kept their senses open, searching for their targets.

Then one of them tripped on a twig, crashing noisily into a tree.

"Sshh," the other one said quietly, "Keep it down Udon."

"Sorry, Konohamaru," the other said with a sniffle as they heard a stick snap and they rushed towards the sound.

The two continued away, not noticing the two pairs of eyes watching them leave.

"Boss, can you teach me that clone jutsu?" the black eyed girl asked.

Naruto stepped out of the bushes, "I don't think you're old enough."

"Ooohh," Moegi whined, "Please?"

Naruto smiled and shook his head. He had spent the afternoon and evening after becoming an Inuzuka member learning about the clan history and some of the rules, Tsume had even pulled him aside to tell him about the courting rituals and reiterated that he has all rights to lay claim to Hana. After dinner, he spent most of the evening with the puppies in the kennel after Tsunade had left claiming she had work to do still.

This morning he had met up with the Konohamaru Corps in the park as he had promised and immediately tackled by all three of the crying kids, Udon's nose running more than usual. After calming the kids down, they started to play to get their minds off of things, starting off with simple games like tag. Now they were not just playing, they were testing one another. Naruto had set up a game in which they were supposed to try and capture each other in a trap. They had split into teams and went in opposite directions for a few minutes before starting.

Naruto patted the girl on the head, "Sorry, but you don't have enough chakra for it, and you could get hurt trying. Now we have to get our trap set." He finished with a mischievous grin that Moegi mirrored. They moved away from the path that the boys had taken to find a good place to set a trap. As they came to a small clearing, they found it was occupied. In the center of the clearing, sitting at an easel, was a pale skinned girl with light brown hair painting. Naruto was about to approach the stranger, but he heard a growl in the back of his head.

"_**Kit, be careful!"**_ Kyuubi yelled, _**"I sense there's something wrong here."**_

_"What do you mean?" _Naruto asked as the young woman looked to him with a slightly glazed look in her eyes.

_**"I think…I think I sense a demon in her, but it's not sealed like I am. I think it might be some sort of parasite."**_

Naruto tensed, _"What do we do?"_

Suddenly he locked eyes with the girl as he felt a surge of power from Kyuubi as well as a strange intruding feeling from the girl as everything around him faded.

*********

Naruto's vision cleared and he was no longer in the forest, where ever he was, the walls and floor pulsed with life, it reminded him of the weird toad stomach jutsu Jiraiya used once.

_"Kyuubi, where am I?"_

_"__**That girl attempted to catch you in a genjutsu; I followed the feel of her chakra and sent you into her mind. This is like when you visit my cage, only in her mind."**_

_"Why?"_

_"__**Whatever possesses her seems impeded by something, so if you can find it, we might be able to do away with it."**_

"Well what the heck am I looking for?"

"Hello?" he heard a voice behind him. It was the painter girl, "Who are you? Where are we?" she sounded a bit scared.

Naruto slowly approached her, "My name's Naruto, and I guess we are in your head. I think you have been possessed by a demon and I want to help get rid of it miss..."

The girl looked a bit wary, "I'm Yakumo, and what do you mean 'possessed'?"

Naruto struggled a bit with an explanation, "Well, I sort of have something that can sometimes sense demons it seems, and when you tried to use your genjutsu on me I back tracked your chakra somehow and ended up here. If we can just find it, I'll be out of here."

**"Who said you'll be leaving alive?" **a voice said from nowhere.

A figure seemed to sprout from the wall, it was dressed like Yakumo and had the same hair, but the rest of it was grotesque, with a huge horn on each side of its head, grey skin, big gangly fangs and heavily bagged eyes.

Yakumo stumbled back, "W-what is that thing?!"

**"Oh, Yakumo, I'm hurt. I've been with you since you were born and you don't even know me," **the creature growled in fake hurt.

_**"Great, just great, a baku." **_Kyuubi sighed in Naruto's head.

Forgetting about thought, Naruto spoke out loud, "What the hell's a Baku and how do I beat it?"

The demon narrowed its eyes, **"I don't know how you know me or how you got here," ** a kunai appeared in its hand, **"But it's almost time for me to take this body fully and completely, and no one will stop me. Her parents couldn't, the red-eyed bitch couldn't, and some stupid child certainly won't."**

_**"KIT, TACKLE IT!"**_ Kyuubi yelled, and before Naruto could question her, _**"NOW!!"**_

The baku had already started towards Yakumo, so when Naruto grabbed onto the demon he was also knocked into the girl and all three faded from Yakumo's mind.

*********

When the Baku's vision cleared, the two humans where in front of it, the boy staring defiantly as the girls eyes were filled with fear. In a second it could tell they weren't in the girls mind any longer, **"How noble of you, but I'll just take your body instead brat!"**

Naruto smirked, "No…no you won't."

**"And why is that?"**

Instead of saying anything, the blond just widened his grin and pointed behind the demon, who turned to see a very, very large cage door and the darkness behind it. Deep in the shadows, a giant pair of eyes opened, red, slit pupil eyes.

The Baku stumbled back as red chakra seeped from the cage, **"W-what the hell!?"**

The red energy wrapped around the demon and dragged it to the bars as a voice in the cage roared, **"You trespass into MY territory and dare to threaten MY host!?"**

The baku was quickly dragged to the cage, screaming and begging for mercy. Once it was pulled into the shadows, there were a few sickening crunches followed by a loud swallow. A few seconds later, Kyuubi stepped to the bars in her human form with a disgusted look as she scraped at her tongue with her fingernails.

"I hope you realize you owe me for that, missy," the red haired woman said before spitting, "That was horrible."

Now Yakumo was caught between fear and confusion, "What's going on?"

Naruto turned to her and smiled, now taking notice of the floor that was almost dry and the wolf statues in the corners of the room, "We're in my mind now I guess, and horn head won't bother you again."

"That was a Baku," Kyuubi explained, "Normally they're mostly harmless, incorporeal and just eat the dreams of humans, but every so often you get one that's not satisfied with that, this one seemed to have been attached to you for years, eating away at your mind until there would be so little of you left that it could have taken over and gained a physical form, and a few more months, maybe a year, and it would have succeeded. You should be fine after a while, but I would suggest a visit to a temple in the future to help the recovery."

"That-that thing was actually in me!" The Kurama heiress stammered, "And who are you!?"

Kyuubi sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "You two should get back soon, I'm not exactly sure how time is moving in the physical world at the moment. Just cancel your genjutsu."

"But…" Yakumo started before she was silenced by the woman, who suddenly had nine elegant tails swaying behind her.

"I am sealed here and I do no harm to my host, unlike the Baku," the redhead growled, "and that is all you need to know. Now cancel your genjutsu or I'll force you out."

The teenage girl gulped and quickly formed a tiger seal, and soon the tunnel and cage faded around her.

*********

"…BOSS!"

Naruto shook his head, "Huh? What happened?"

"Boss," he looked down to Moegi, "Are you okay? You spaced out for a moment there."

He looked to the other person in the clearing, Yakumo's eyes seemed clearer now and where focused on him, "Yeah, Moegi, I'm fine." He said as the now demon free girl stood and moved towards him.

She quickly wrapped him in a close embrace, whispering "thank you" over and over again.

Yakumo herself felt a bit overwhelmed, upon her return she suddenly felt lighter, like a great weight had been lifted from both her body and soul, her mind seemed clearer and the world seemed a little brighter. Her eyes were still on her new hero as she moved to hug him, thanking him for helping her. Their moment, however, was cut short when a few ANBU and medics leapt into the clearing.

Naruto moved into a defensive stance, but Yakumo stopped him, "It's fine, they're here for me," she faced the masked ninja, "I'll come quietly and return to the manor, just let me collect my things." The Anbu were a little off guard, but allowed it. After she gathered her supplies, she went to Naruto and gave him one last hug and a peck on the cheek, "Thanks again, my hero." And soon she and the ANBU were gone.

Naruto was a bit confused and wondered what just happened, but soon there was a rustling nearby with a familiar snuffle, and Moegi pulled him into a bush to hide, reminding him that they were still playing.

)()()()()()(

Yakumo and the ANBU returned to the manor and a pair ninja escorted her back to her usual room. She felt the crushing depressed feeling the moment she set foot into the windowless room, decorated with the dark painted reminders of the demon that once dwelled in her mind. She turned to her escorts and spoke, first the hawk masked ninja, "Pardon, ANBU-san, could you please deliver a message, I would like to speak with Yuuhi Kurenai and my uncle as soon as is convenient for either of them."

The ANBU nodded, "I will try." And he left as the heiress turned to the other ninja, a female with a tiger-mask.

"Tora-san, are you any good with fire jutsu?"

Tora was a little worried at the question from the usually unstable girl, "I know a couple," she admitted warily.

"Good," Yakumo said with a smile, quickly grabbing a fresh canvas and her paints, "I'm going to move to the conservatory for some better light. If you wouldn't mind," she looked back into the room, "burn those paintings."

"Kurama-san?"

"I said burn them, they're an unpleasant reminder of a descent into madness. I don't want any of those damnable things around." She walked away, calling back as she walked, "Keep the tarps on them, some have built in genjutsu."

Tora was even more confused, usually the pale and frail young woman avoided the sun like a vampire, she never seemed this happy and before she would have never EVER had her old paintings burned. The ANBU kunoichi shook her head and made a clone to handle the paintings, she sure as hell didn't want to be personally caught in one of that girl's illusions.

)()()()()()(

In Iwagakure, behind a large desk, a woman of reasonably good looks sat bored out of her mind. She was a rather short woman, only about four foot seven, with soft brown hair braided to her shoulder blades, and with lightly tanned skin and earthy red eyes.

Qiuyue, the Tsuchikage of almost two years, sat at her desk leafing through the intelligence reports.

"I swear, I beat up on one idiot, and suddenly everyone feels the need to report on every little fucking thing." She sighed to no one in particular. True, the idiot in question has walked funny ever since, and still jumps at the word 'rock slide' but he deserved it, she told herself.

About now she had gotten to the Konoha report. _Hmm, Uchiha tried to run to the snake, assisted by unknown sound ninja, one captured, others killed, yatta yatta yatta, clan heirs injured. Huh? Uchiha was only fined and put on probation? Konoha's getting way too lenient, even for the last of a clan. _Qiuyue turned to the next page and, with one look at the enclosed picture, something within her awoke. After years buried in the darkest recesses of her mind, where she had hoped it would stay for the rest of her life, it roared to the forefront with a deafening…squee?

_**MINATO-KUN!!!**_

The second the thought crossed her mind she instinctively slammed her head into her desk. She had spent her chunin and jonin years, even during the war, harboring a crush on her own enemy, the legendary Yellow Flash. She had been devastated at the news of his death. During the war she had dreamt of him almost every night, hoping he would invade whatever camp she was stationed at, take her prisoner and, after tying her up and returning to his village, taking her and…

The woman shook those thoughts from her mind, she had to focus. She looked back to the picture, with a second glance, she saw the boy really did look like the fourth hokage, his hair was a bit brighter, but if not for the whisker marks, he would almost be a clone.

_Wait, whisker marks? _She looked over the boy's info, _Born October tenth, the day of the Kyuubi attack. No clear evidence of Jinchuuriki status, but the watchers constantly overhear him called a demon, and mention of 'Sandaime's Law', Sarutobi was a bit too softhearted, thinking a law would shut people up. The boy had a close relationship with the old monkey, is very close with Tsunade…TRAINED BY JIRAIYA HIMSELF!?_ She looked over some of the mission reports that were public record from her watchers, including the responses from clients, _Koyuki of Snow claims he saved her and her country, highly supportive and positive response from both the Wasabi clan and the daimyo of Wave, even the leader of Taki says he's a hero. Is Konoha really tossing the kid out? _She looked back to the picture, _Uzumaki may be the mother's name,_ she felt a twinge of jealousy at that thought, _Sarutobi may have had the kid keep it. Most probably, he's a Jinchuuriki, nine tails, even if his resemblance to Minato is a fluke, his connections and potential would be more than welcome, and sensei should be able to help him._

Qiuyue pushed the button on her intercom, "Get Roushi in here as soon as possible." She turned back to the file, marveling at how far the leaf village had seemed to have fallen.

)()()()()()()(

Unkai Kurama made his way through the forest, constantly on his guard since he had received a request for an audience from his niece. He knew it wouldn't be right to deny her this, even though she couldn't seem to control her dangerous powers, she was still his blood and the heir of the clan. As he closed in on the manor, he found a number of the same ANBU operative tossing paintings in a pile a short distance from the building. One, who Unkai assumed was the original, walked to the current clan head.

"Kurama-sama, good afternoon," Tora greeted.

"To you as well," Unkai said as he kept his eye on the pile, "What, may I ask, are you doing?"

"Yakumo-sama asked me to burn her old paintings, sir."

Unkai raised an eyebrow at this, Yakumo used her paintings as a conduit for her powers, to have the burned would be like a samurai breaking his sword over a rock, "Is she in her room right now?"

"No, sir, she has moved herself to the conservatory, she said she wanted more light."

Unkai nodded at this latest in oddities concerning his wayward niece, and headed towards the conservatory. He arrived and knocked lightly on the door.

"Just a minute," the girls voice called from inside, a good deal more chipper than the man had heard from her in a long time. After some rustling, the door opened to reveal the young Kurama with splotches of paints on her face and clothes and a small smile. "Hello, uncle, thank you for coming."

"Of course," the elder said, keeping his senses sharp for any genjutsu, noticing the tarp covered painting near a window, "did you need something from me?"

"Please, have a seat, I'll get us some tea," she motioned to a wicker chair, "Just keep that painting covered, it's not finished yet," she added with a smile as she left the room.

Unkai sat for a few minutes, pondering on the painting and what his niece may have stored in it. Soon his curiosity started to get the better of him and he moved next to it, slowly lifting the corner of the tarp. He managed to see a bit of green before his hand was slapped and he let go of the tarp.

"Uncle," Yakumo whined, "I told you it's not finished yet." She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the table she had put the tea set on. After she and her uncle sat and poured a cup each, Yakumo's expression fell a bit, "Uncle, I need to talk to you about something, I want to apologise for how I may have been acting in recent years." Ignoring the surprised and confused man, she continued, "It came to my attention that, until earlier today, I was a host to a parasitic demon, but I am happy to say that is no longer true."

"Y-Yakumo!" Unkai stammered, "What are you talking about? How did you get rid of a demon?"

"Earlier today, I somehow ended up in the forest painting; I suppose the demon lead me there. I was interrupted by a boy who was around my age. For some reason I tried to use a genjutsu on him, and when I did he was able to turn it on me and enter my mind. He confronted the beast and dragged it into his own mind where, apparently, he also has a demon, but his was sealed."

Unkai's eyebrows shot to the roof, _Uzumaki?_

Yakumo continued without noticing, "His demon ate the parasite, and said that I should recover, but that I should visit a temple for a cleansing to aid my recovery."

Unkai was silent for a moment before standing, "You have given me much to think about, Yakumo. I will make arrangements for a temple visit, as well as a visit to one of the Yamanaka clan for a thorough check."

Yakumo smiled as the old man headed towards the door, "Thank you, uncle," she then headed back to work on her painting, with stars in her eyes, _I can't wait to see you again, my heroic maelstrom._

)()()()()()()(

"AAAAAAAAND, CUT!" a director yelled, "Take five people."

Koyuki Kazehana went to her room to reapply her makeup before the next scene, very happy how well her latest project was going. With the help of a few movie friends of her, the princess/actress was shooting a film called '_Savior in the Snow_' which was meant to be the story of the liberation of her own country. True, she had taken a few liberties in the writing process, such as names, places, and maybe adding the romantic end between the hero and the princess, but once the script was finished, she had producers slipping in their own drool over the chance at this flick.

At the door to her room was her guard and assistant, Fubuki Kakuyoku. The pink haired young woman had survived the explosion of her chakra armor, but not completely. Fubuki had lost her right arm and had some scars, but had managed to get her hand on a puppeteer arm and had it attached, it seemed a bit stiff in its movement, but the snow kunoichi was getting better with it.

Shortly after Naruto and his friends left, Koyuki's first act as the leader of her country was to clean out their ninja village of anyone still loyal to Doto or his ideals. Fubuki had managed to stick around and wormed her way into direct service of the princess with some helpful info from foreign contacts and her own ability, she truly wanted to help the princess and make up for what she had supported.

The women went into the secluded room and Fubuki locked the door behind her as the princess talked on about her co-stars, that she didn't think the man playing Naruto's character was quite good enough, or that maybe another actor was overplaying their part.

"Hime-sama, I have some news from a friend in Fire country," Koyuki got quiet very quickly, any news Fubuki got from Fire country would usually have to do with her blond hero. The problem was Fubuki's tone, because it certainly seemed anything but happy.

"Did something happen? Is Naruto alright?" Koyuki asked quickly, fearing for her favorite blonds' safety.

"As far as I heard, he's still breathing and alive. It seems that, a few days ago, his teammate attempted to defect to Otogakure. A retrieval team consisting of a chunin, one Naruto Uzumaki and three other genin was dispatched to capture Uchiha Sasuke. They, along with three hired Suna genin and another leaf genin, fought against five high ranking sound nin as well as Uchiha himself. Three of the retrieval team, Uzumaki included, did suffer some major injuries but are expected to make a full recovery. The mission was a success when, after suffering near mortal injuries, Uzumaki subdued the Uchiha who, along with the one surviving sound nin, is in leaf custody."

The princess sighed, "I sense a 'but' coming."

The pinkette nodded, "For reasons unknown to me, the council, against the Hokage's wish and that of the major clans, have ordered Naruto Uzumaki to be banished about five days from now, they only give the reason that he is a threat to village security."

The room seemed to get as cold as her countries name as Koyuki walked out of the door and towards the director, "Sir," the princess said in a quiet tone, "I am afraid I am going to leave for the day, I have urgent business to attend to as my countries leader."

The director nodded, "Are you sure, Koyuki-sama?"

"Yes," she said simply as she headed back to her room, stopping part way to face Fubuki, "You said five days?" Fubuki nodded, "is that enough time for you to get to fire country?" she thought for a moment before giving another nod, "Fubuki, first I want you to tell my advisors I want to meet with them now, then your mission is to travel to Fire Country, stay under the radar. Once Naruto has left the village, I want you to invite him here and provide escort." Koyuki finished her order and headed back to her room to change.

Fubuki released a breath she didn't know she was holding, "I guess that could have gone worse." She shrugged to herself, "I'd say she took it rather…"

"BASTARDS," was yelled as one of the walls of the princess's room was broken from a large vanity and a table flying through.

Fubuki sighed and got to work, not wanting to deal with the pissed princess.

)()()()()()(

Kurenai Yuuhi arrived to the Kurama manor to find a good sized pile of canvas burning in a rather impressive sized pyre, which confused the hell out of the red-eyed woman. First she hears that her former student, who before held a deep grudge against her, requested a friendly meeting, then she sees the girls various works going up in flames at the artist's order.

Kurenai came to the conservatory that the tiger ANBU had said the girl was in to find it empty. She moved to the inside of the room and towards a painting that seemed almost finished. Unlike the girls previous dark and somewhat disturbing works, this was…uplifting. It seemed to the red eyed woman that just looking at the painting gave her a warm, safe, content feeling.

The painting depicted a young man in typical r ōnin garb colored a rusty red orange sitting in a grassy prairie and leaning back against a large red furred creature that wasn't finished yet. The backdrop was of a beautiful sunset, hundreds of flowers and the edge of a large forest. The young man was facing the setting sun and most of his visible face was obscured by his blond hair, but one could just about make out the edge of a blue eye.

"Kurenai-sensei," Kurenai turned to see her old student coming in the door carrying a few new bottles of paint, "Please, it's not finished yet," she moved and pulled a tarp over the painting.

"Um, you asked me to come, Yakumo?"

"Yes, please have a seat, I'll be there in a moment," the young woman set her paints with the ones already in the room. She sat near the older woman and sipped from a glass on the table. The pair sat in a rather uncomfortable silence for several minutes before Kurenai said anything.

"Yakumo, I know you dislike me for…" she was cut off by her former student.

"I know, sensei," she sipped her tea again, "It was not your fault, you simply didn't have all the information."

"What do you mean?" Kurenai asked, confused.

"I don't know what sort of seal you used, but it was in no way meant for what I had." She took another drink, "It wasn't meant to hold a demon." She waited a moment for that to sink in.

"W-what do you mean demon?"

"From what I was told, it was a Baku and it was within me for years, slowly trying to destroy my mind and take my body for itself, so it would have a physical form. It said you weren't able to stop it," The young girl began to tear up a bit, "It said that my parents tried to stop it, I guess they found out about it somehow and it…it used me to kill them."

Kurenai put an arm around the weeping girl to comfort her. After a bit, she spoke to her former apprentice, "Yakumo, we need to see the hokage, she could find Jiraya and he can seal the demon properly."

"No, he can't sensei," she sniffled, "It's gone now. I met someone else earlier who had a demon within him, but his demon was more… friendly I guess. She ate the Baku and said I should recover after a while."

Kurenai thought back to the painting, _no way, it can't be, _"Yakumo, who was it you met?"

Yakumo blushed enough to partially answer the question, "I don't know his surname, but he said he was Naruto."

Kurenai almost slapped her forehead, _Of course, is it just my students he does this to?_

"Kurenai-sensei, I asked you to come because I wanted to ask if, after my recovery, I could start studying as a ninja again." She said with hope in her eyes.

Kurenai smiled and nodded, "I'd be happy to teach you."

)()()()()()()(

Sakura limped home for lunch, nursing a number of bruises with her bō staff on her back. Her first couple sessions with Tenten had been painful but productive. While her physical strength, speed and stamina left quite a bit to be desired, she got the forms and katas quickly, and she had been given a few of Tenten's old training weights, although thankfully, they were nowhere near the level of Gai's green garbed student. She was about home when a call of 'Forehead' called her attention to an approaching Ino, who didn't exactly look happy.

"Hey, Ino, what's up?"

Ino looked at her incredulously for a moment, "Where the hell have you been, Sakura? What happened to you?"

"Oh," Sakura rubbed a bruise, "Just weapon training."

"Wha-," the blond shook her head, "Never mind, listen, why the heck didn't you visit Naruto in the hospital? He risked his life and almost died and you didn't even check on him? He has to give up on his dream because of that mission, were you just trying to sneak in with Sasuke-teme?"

"N-no, I," Sakura's eyes began to water, "I didn't want him to see me," she lied, "I-I don't think I can be around him now, I don't deserve to," that, to her, was the truth, "It was my fault, Ino. I made him promise to bring Sasuke back, it's because of me that he almost died and all I've ever really been to him is some mindlessly abusive bitch. He should blame me for getting hurt, but he won't, he'd forgive me, and I just don't deserve that right now."

"Well his injuries are the least of his problems right now."

The pinkette blinked, "What do you mean?"

"He's getting banished."

)()()()()()()(

An old red haired ninja drained the last of his sake from its bottle as he climbed the stairs to the office of his leader and former student. While Rōshi did find it a bit demeaning having to take order from the same woman who he saw, only a few decades before, almost crap her pants on her first C-rank mission, but he didn't want that sort of responsibility, and it was better to have her working in the office then to have old man Ōnoki breaking a hip every other day reaching for a pen.

Without knocking, he entered the Tsuchikage's office, "Hey, brat, what do you need?" he asked before ducking a stapler, which then stuck to the wall.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT SENSEI!" Qiuyue took a moment, and a couple of deep breaths, to compose herself, "I have an important mission for you," she said as she held up a picture.

Rōshi took a quick look at the picture and smacked his own forehead, "Don't tell me you're still nursing wood for a dead man." He then narrowly avoided a flying paperweight.

"GIRLS DON'T 'NURSE WOOD' YOU ASS!" Qiuyue took a few more moments to calm herself, "Sensei, this is serious, take a closer look at the picture."

The man sighed and did as he was told, "It's not him?"

"No," the Tsuchikage said as she opened a file, "Meet Uzumaki Naruto, age thirteen, birthday October tenth, distinguished by three whisker marks on each cheek, signature jutsu is the _**Taijuu Kage Bunshin**_, which he has been known to make as many as several hundred clones," Rōshi raised an eyebrow, but kept silent, "Gennin student of 'Copycat Kakashi', student of the toad sage Jiraiya, close friend of the late Hiruzen Sarutobi, surrogate son of Tsunade Senju, has a bridge named in his honor in the land of Waves for his heroics, is credited as vital for having prevented a coup d'état in Takigakure, known in the land of Spring as 'The Knight of the Snow', and is known in his home village of Konohagakure as…'the demon brat'."

Rōshi sighed, wishing he still had his sake, "So this kid is a Jinchuuriki, but I am not abducting someone so well connected, last thing we need is two Sannin, two villages and two whole countries wanting to kick our collective ass. Did you take a boulder to the head?"

Qiuyue smiled deviously, "That's the beautiful part, sensei. Konoha doesn't care because they're banishing him in a few days."

Rōshi sighed again and shook his head, "We must have killed off the smarter side of their gene pool in the war. So what do you want me to do?"

"Just find him once he is out of the village and extend an invitation to join our village. We could probably get away making him a rookie chunin, you could help him with controlling his tenant, and most of our ninja would probably be happy just to stick it to Konoha. His political connections would probably be enough to silence any other naysayers, and who knows what sort of potential he has."

The red haired man stared at his boss for a moment, "And this isn't just because he looks like your old crush."

The woman blushed a bit and looked away, "That might be part of it." She heard her teacher groan, "Hey, listen, the kid looks almost just like Minato-ku…Minato did, he was chosen as host for the beast, Jiraya took him as a student and I'm told the old monkey Sarutobi treated him like family."

"And?"

"And!? I think that means there's a pretty damn good chance…that he could be the son of Minato Namikaze! If it's true and we can find a way to prove it not only would we gain a valuable ninja, we could shove it in Konoha's face that they gave the boot to the son of their hero."

"And what about the Sannin, if he's so close to Tsunade and Jiraiya, do you really think they'll be letting this go down?"

"That's their problem, apparently between the time the old man kicked the bucket and Tsunade got into office, their council got a few things passed through a couple loopholes to fatten their wallets and increase their own power, even at the cost to the village overall. If Jiraiya and Tsunade want to do anything, they'll probably follow him after a bit, and we might just get one or two of the legendary Sannin added to our village. The loss of the kid will probably affect Konoha's business with a couple countries, but the fact that they lost the backing of the rest of the Sannin would probably cripple them so bad the entire village's infrastructure would probably fall in on itself." She explained, a trickster's smile cracked across her face as she turned and gazed out at the night sky.

)()()()()()()(

The advisory council of the Land of Snow/Spring gathered in their chamber, worried about what could be the cause of the emergency meeting. Many had heard of their ruler's outburst on her movie set and almost pitied whoever had angered her so.

The council had been put together shortly after Koyuki took her throne to help care for her country. Each member worked with a couple of others to decide on things for the country, like taxes, settling major disputes, appointing law enforcement, and allocating funds to needed areas. Each change had to be passed through the princess and, to prevent problems seen in other countries; it was built into their base constitution that they any attempt to pass anything meant to restrict her own power would be met with execution for treason.

The princess soon entered in all her regal splendor, wearing an expression that quite clearly said 'Cross me and I will tear out your still beating heart'.

"I thank you all for coming on such short notice," Koyuki said in a strained voice, "As some of you may have heard, I am not in a good mood, so I will try to keep this brief. I have just been informed by my assistant, Fubuki Kakuyoku, that Konohagakure will officially banish one of their ninja in five days with no real reason given. That shinobi is Naruto Uzumaki," at that several murmured conversations started, as well as a few curses at the leaf village, but were quickly silenced when Koyuki drove a fist, loudly, into the table. Shaking the tingling pain from her hand, she continued, "Yes, yes, 'The Knight of the Snow' was banished, and now you know why I'm in a bad mood, so don't interrupt me again. Naruto's teammate attempted to defect from their village, Naruto and his team stopped him, and now Naruto is getting banished. I have already dispatched my assistant to safely escort him here, but that's not enough for me," she growled, "I want to show those leaf headed pricks what it means to mistreat our hero, my Knight and an honorary member of our land. I'm open to any suggestions that will at least make that village a little less comfortable."

The majority of the next hour was spent making decisions just to make the village hidden in the leaves miserable. The recent activation of the former rulers heat generator had caused some flooding in the few flat areas of the country, but it had also revealed lush and fertile farmland, the country had already possessed several mines in the numerous mountains, the shores had a good fishing industry, and all of them had felt a debt to Koyuki for freeing them from the heavy taxation of her uncle, and through her, Naruto, the hero who had saved the princess and defeated the evil man. Even this soon after it happened, it seemed many children liked it as a bedtime story, no matter the fact the fairy tale from their parents was different from what had really happened.

Konoha would know the wrath of the Land of Snow and Spring, and they would know it well.

That night Koyuki had retired to her bedchambers, and was lying in her bed with a framed picture. It was a picture of her and a certain bandaged and unconscious boy. Even in her current angered state, the picture, and the memory of Naruto's reaction to it, brought a smile to the princess's face. The boy had helped reveal her father's final gift to her and her country, and granted her the dream she had as a child, to be a princess and an actress. She laid the picture back on her nightstand and looked out at the full moon in her window.

_Naruto, _she thought, _I will help you. If they think I will just let you lose your dream after granting me mine, then we will prove them wrong. I will make them pay, I swear it._

)()()()()()()(

Hinata was sitting in her room thinking about her day. Earlier that day, Hinata had gone to visit the village leader only to find the female Sannin had wanted to see her as well. The young girl listened to the plans being made by the blond woman, all the while the small, devious corner of the Hyuga's mind was snickering darkly at those who had spurned her precious Naruto-kun. Hinata had been told to think over her possible part in the plan. It would certainly help her get closer to Naruto, but there was also a chance she may not see some, if any, of her friends and family again.

Her teammates would probably understand, and the same could be said for her sensei. She wasn't really close with anyone else outside of her family, though, because of her shy nature in school.

And it was only recently that she had started making any headway with her family, Neji seemed to be making an effort to rebuild bridges with her, her father seemed to have made a couple of awkward tries at being nicer to his eldest daughter, and then there was Hanabi.

Hinata sighed; things were slow going with her younger sister. The younger girl was hesitant to trust her elder sibling, they hadn't been very close their entire lives and rarely were able to interact outside of the spars that were arranged between them, and now the girl thought any move made by her elder might be a trick to get through her guard, and it would bring to her mind the near inborn fear of their family seal.

She looked to the little blond ninja plushy next to her, then out her window, _Naruto-kun…_

)()()()()()()(

Sakura sat in her room, after she had gotten the news for Ino, she hadn't believed it, but it wasn't something the blond would lie about. It raised a lot of questions that neither girl could answer. And even more questions were raised when Ino talked about her little _**henge**_ experiment. The villager reaction to the false Naruto brought a guilty feeling forth within Sakura, knowing she had been a lot like them before. Sakura had locked herself in her room after Ino left. In her room, she wept, wishing she could have stopped Sasuke herself, that she could have convinced him to stay, anything that could have kept Naruto in the village. It just wasn't fair, getting banished for his success. She felt guilt for the pain she had caused her blond teammate, and wept for his lost dream.

After all, you can't be Hokage if you aren't a leaf ninja.

Sakura looked to the sky and the great glowing orb, _I'll find a way to make this right, Naruto, I swear to you._

_**CHA! AND WE'LL MAKE THESE IDIOTS PAY! SHANNARO!**_

In another part of town, the pinkette's friend was thinking along similar lines as she tended to the flowers and gazed out the window. _I don't know what sort of secret you have Naruto, and I don't care, no person our age could deserve to be treated like that, _Ino thought, _I won't let you go through that alone anymore._

)()()()()()()(

Yakumo finished the last touches on her new painting, signing in the corner of the canvas. She sighed as she thought of the news she had been given by her reinstated teacher, and hoped her uncle would have the necessary arrangements done soon, she hoped to see her hero before he was forced to leave. The young painter reached up and gently ran a finger along the cheek of the young man in the painting.

_Uzumaki Naruto_, she thought, as Kurenai had given her the maelstroms full name, _how have you suffered, how have they hurt you? You saved me, my hero, and I will do all I can to save you._ She looked out her window, _I will not abandon the hope you have given me, and I will not abandon you._

)()()()()()()(

Naruto sat in the warm evening air with the Inuzuka head and her daughter as each of them enjoyed melon slices while they watched some puppies chasing fireflies from the porch. Tsume had given Naruto a room of his own in her house for whenever he needed it, even if he managed to get back to the village at one point.

Naruto had spent most of his day playing around with the Konohamaru Corps. (He and Moegi had beaten the boys in their capture game). In the later afternoon, he had returned to the Inuzuka compound and Hana had taught him a few taijutsu moves of his new clan, which he was able to pickup surprisingly quickly as it seemed to work well with his already feral brawler style.

Dinner was very pleasant too, even though it was just him, Hana, Tsume and their dogs, the whole thing seemed to re-enforce the fact that he now had an official family. Unlike what one might expect from a major clan, it was a very close dinner, the women and Naruto each eager to talk about each other's day and tell stories of their past, several of which filled the room with laghter, especially the one Hana told about the time Kiba had gotten into his mothers room and dressed in her things to play ninja.

They even had a picture, and it made the blond drop to the floor, grasping his sides when he saw the photo of little Kiba, his face smeared with makeup, mouth smudged with lipstick and a bra hanging loosely outside his t-shirt, his mouth half way through the sentence, "I'm a ninja like mommy!"

The humans were shaken from their thoughts as the puppies began to bark and howl at the newly risen moon.

Tsume lay back, glancing at her newest pup, wishing she could do more to help him as she turned back to the moon. _Whoever's out there, please keep an eye on the poor kid._

Hana had enjoyed the presence of the boy, at first she had thought he was just a blond version of her brother, but she was wrong. True, he was as dense and short tempered at times as Kiba was, but he was nice and seemed to pick up on things really quickly when he was given a chance. And his kindness caught her a little off guard, given what her mother had said about his life growing up. She turned her attention towards the sky; _I will do my best to help you, as heiress to your new clan and…as your friend._

Naruto looked at the celestial body that had the puppy's attention. He liked the canines, and thought it was cute the way they barked at the moon, like they could scare it off. He couldn't wait to have his own partner, Kiba had always said how great it was having a companion that would be there with him, and Naruto wished for something like that. Part of Naruto was wary of getting this close to the Inuzuka family, only to lose it in a few days, but he knew he would cherish these memories. As he gazed into the moon, for some reason he couldn't understand, he felt something, a connection, no, several connections. He felt like, at that very second, he was surrounded by those who cared for him, maybe even loved him.

**A.N. Well, it's shorter than usual, but I think it's pretty good. I wanted to get this ready and up a week ago, but got distracted, sorry.**

**And before anyone says anything, yes, I know that in cannon Yakumo's 'Id' is a side effect of her bloodline ability, like the Mangekyou sharingan's blindness, but it's my fic, so bugger off.**

**And as for the Tsuchikage, I had already planned for a female one before the manga introduced the real one, back when I was working on the first chapter (yes, I do plan that far ahead with a few things), so, again, bugger off.**

**Later**

**P.S. If anyone wants to take a whack at your own version of Yakumo's painting, let me know, I'll try and mail or message you a better description and I'll put a link to it below here.  
**


End file.
